GRATITUDE MONTH: DAY 1: “In the end, though, maybe we must all give up trying to pay back the people in this world who sustain our lives. In the end, maybe it’s wiser to surrender before the miraculous scope of human generosity and to just keep saying thank you, forever and sincerely, for as long as we have voices.” ― Elizabeth Gilbert
We all have a story about the people who have inhabited our lives. This story is often of things that have happened with those people and the impact we believe it has had on our lives.
Seldom do these stories truly reflect the things that we have received. In most cases, those stories of abuse or harm have not included the tremendous gifts we have been given.
In my case, there are stories of abuse and harm that I have learned to be tremendously grateful for. They are the ONLY source of the strength and spirit with which I have become known and with which I have lived my life.
It is only those gifts that have been the impetus for my sense of freedom and individuality that could not have been shaped through any other means.
My fervent prayer for this time in my life is that we all become fully aware of these gifts. For, in doing so, I turn these things into assets.
It is the complete transformation of my story from one of victimization into that of empowerment. I have gone from a weed into a wildflower. I was in the trash bin of society and have been, not only reclaimed from the heap, but transformed into a miraculous healer of human spirit.
These are the things that come from shifting my story to one of power and love and healing and light and soul.
Today my mantra is that these things which I once believed were done TO ME are now recognized as those things that have been done FOR ME.
I do not need to know or understand or “forgive” others for the things that happened. I DO need to thank the Universe in which they occurred, and to thank FOREVER MORE those people with whom these events transpired. They are, after all, the most important and beneficial teachers I will ever have.
I was the student, who was prepared, and the teachers DID appear. I did not know the nature of the lessons for a very long time. They felt traumatic and painful.
Today I see the beauty of these lessons, for their teachings are soul-deep and powerful. As the saying goes, “What doesn’t kill us will make us strong.” There is no greater truth than this.
It is not those with whom I share lovely moments in time that I am most deeply grateful. It is with those who seemed to have been the biggest monsters. I will always be grateful for the ME that I have become, and it is only because of their part in my life that this has unfolded. Thank you FOREVER!
Dolphin Hug 