GRATITUDE MONTH: DAY 27: “Piglet noticed that even though he had a Very Small Heart, it could hold a rather large amount of Gratitude.” ― A.A. Milne
I have been a huge fan of the Winnie the Pooh books since I was a little girl. None of my friends had heard of them, because they were most popular in England and Europe. Just like Rudyard Kipling. In both cases, Disney made movies of these books and their popularity became a world-wide thing. I have always loved diminutive Piglet, because he is sweet, unassuming and quiet.
I do not possess these qualities, but I admire them in others. Since most of my friends are in recovery, they have few, if any, of these traits. In fact, like me, if my friends get quiet, I get nervous!
But, I find that the smaller and more humble among us are the most grateful. It emanates from them in ways that are powerful and authentic. I love that, too!
Grateful is NOT my default setting. If it were, this practice would not require the work I put into it. It would emanate off me too. I like to believe it does today. I don’t know, but it is the cornerstone of my recovery.
And, odd as it may seem, this is not something I talk about a lot. I don’t know how, really. I am more inclined to write about it here and leave it alone most of the time. It feels funny to talk about gratitude, other than to quote my mentor and share my daily practice and why it works so well for us.
I believe Piglet, myself, the Grinch, any of us who have small hearts need to work on this and cram as much gratitude into life as we can. It grows our hearts and opens them to life. The thing we spent so much time and money (on booze and drugs!) to avoid.
We have learned to hide from life and deny its existence for so long. Time to open up and LIVE! We never did that when we were practicing addicts. It cannot happen. We were shut off and shut down and unavailable to live life as it was unfolding. We missed SO much!
I want to give the entire Universe my undivided attention and be present for all of it! And to be grateful is the only way I can love. I must give full time, attention and gratitude before I can love anyone or anything.
If you are saying “I love you” to others, think about whether or not you are giving them your full time and attention and acceptance and gratitude. If not, you are NOT loving them! Your heart is closed by what you are thinking, so you must let that go and truly appreciate who and what they are. There is no other way to walk in gratitude. Talking about it ain’t enough!
I want to walk out of my door every day with the full open heart I have learned to have. I want to love all of those who I meet on the path and let them know they are loved and appreciated. It matters, and this, I believe is the reason for this process…for these steps…for these spiritual principles. To run head first into those things I was so afraid of and in denial of before. Woohoo! Let’s go!
Dolphin Hug 