well... maybe i do
but still its astonishing
and its been said many times over and over

and yeah it works
but it seems to be working EXTREMELY well lately

and that is that i am feeling more and more happier peaceful and hopeful
just by focusing on what i am grateful for

and it doesn't even seem to take much
because it is so easy once i get on a roll

then after the grateful item number one million

i wonder why on earth i ever complain about ANYTHING

i have excellent vision, hearing, use of limbs,
sense of touch, smell etc

this is more than what most people are granted with

whether they were born with a condition or were involved in an accident etc.

i mean this one point is something i am very grateful for

and sometimes i seem to forget

or take it for granted

and here it is

wealth wealth wealth

and so i focused on that

and then miraculously

i felt happier

then more miraculously

it seemed to bleed into other areas

and then people who seemed problematic in my life

i seemed to see only the good points in them

then even more strangley enough

stuff that used to bother me concerning the world

became like a great opportunity/challenge to me

and then... it just ALL seemed good

and really... nothing changed externally

i mean i bought a lotto ticket

again

yesterday

and i didn't win anything

but i was grateful for having the two entire days of hope

where i was feeling excited about the prospect of winning kazillions of dollars

so that i could grow unlimited amount of kale

life really is beautiful

i just have to open my eyes more often

and maybe

my heart too

infinite good out there

silly me

seeing the glass half empty at times

when all along the glass was overflowing

to the rim

and well other stuff

i was grateful for having the opportunity to eat delicious purple figs
just the other day and also macadamia nuts that were actually raw and fresh

and just having a great people that i could talk to and exchange different ideas with
i mean i used to take that for granted
but seriously, it is quite a gift and i am wondering why on earth i take that for granted
i don't take it for granted now

and well.. its making me think of other areas that i take for granted

i never got along with my parents that well
i mean its always been a profound strain whenever i visited

but honestly, they are
1.alive
2. healthy
3. they love me

and really... that is all that matters
whether or not i ever agree with anything they say ( which i don't)
or whether we ever see eye to eye (which we rarely do)

but who cares?

i know what their intent is

and that is all i care about

and things like that

all along there has been love all around me

all i had to do was

l
o
o
k

oh yeah another thing

is this site

i sometimes took for granted all the people on this site
and even the site itself

because it was just so seamlessly and excellently put together
that it was easy to take for granted

but once i got over my breathtaking blindness
it takes my breath away

all these stunning people

who converge invisibly

here

on this site

all with the common goal

of self improvement

or spiritual improvement

or mental improvement

or whatever


THAT is pretty wild and awesome

and its unbelievable how i could have ever taken that for granted

but i did

and now i don't

its impossible to take things for granted now

i hope this little phase of mine lasts forever

LOL

i think that sometimes death changes my perspective
having people in my life who have died unexpectedly or suddenly which blew me away

or having known other people who have had loved ones pass away

and then it just makes me stop in my tracks

and makes me wonder

that its people and love that really matters the most

and plants and deers and rivers too

and the moon

and probably the stars as well

and well

seems like there are plenty of these ( let's just hope)

around

and so

everywhere all around me

important things that really matter

i am SURROUNDED by

WHOOO HOOOOOOOOO!!!!

so it is things like these

that make me sometimes feel like the luckiest person in the world

when at other dark times i felt just the opposite

and i am not sure if its just having the goal of being in gratitude

or just being blessed by outer forces that i cannot see

whatever it is

i am TAKING it

for all its worth

maybe i shouldn't just HOPE to feel like this forever

maybe it is just a perpetual exercise or TEST

in life to see the good in the midst of the not so nice things in life

all i am saying is that sometimes.. just sometimes....

it all seems to come together

and like i said

nothing really changed on the outside at all

the "problems" are still the same

i just view them differently

and THAT is a gift

and it is quite thrilling

and maybe when things aren't so hunky dory

and i don't feel that problems are a gift

i will just start all over again

and do my gratitude exercises slowly ( and maybe even painfully like pulling teeth)

but i think that sooner or later

it helps me to see things a lot more clearly

and oddly enough, being grateful allows me to confront even ugly situations more head on

and deal with them

a lot more graciously

so odd that is

i know that there is a belief that when someone is happy it is because they just might have their head up in the clouds and not have a clue as to how dire and
desperate the situation in this world is

but i always thought that only when someone is happy can they really affect true change

at any rate, i think that sometimes happiness sometimes descends upon me like
an unexpected angel

brushing my shoulders with its feathery wings

and whispering in my ears " All is good"

and silly me

i believe it cuz i want to

okay so what does this all have to do with raw vegan foods?

i don't know
probably nothing

probably everything

probably all things in between

it doesn't matter

i've been on this site long enough that bryan knows i am crazy and won't kick me out LOL

OKAY, so here are some famous gratitude quotes. Let me know which is your favorite and why. I thought the Buddha quote was hilarious but it resounded truthfully. Heck, i liked ALL of them.



Albert Schweitzer:

At times our own light goes out and is rekindled by a spark from another person.
Each of us has cause to think with deep gratitude of those who have lighted the flame within us.

Albert Schweitzer:

To educate yourself for the feeling of gratitude means to take nothing for granted, but to always seek out and value the kind that will stand behind the action. Nothing that is done for you is a matter of course. Everything originates in a will for the good, which is directed at you. Train yourself never to put off the word or action for the expression of gratitude.

Alfred Painter:

Saying thank you is more than good manners. It is good spirituality.

Brother David Steindl-Rast :

Gratefulness is the key to a happy life that we hold in our hands, because if we are not grateful, then no matter how much we have we will not be happy -- because we will always want to have something else or something more.

Buddha:

Let us rise up and be thankful, for if we didn't learn a lot today, at least we learned a little, and if we didn't learn a little, at least we didn't get sick, and if we got sick, at least we didn't die; so, let us all be thankful.

Cicero:

Gratitude is not only the greatest of virtues, but the parent of all the others.

Denis Waitley:

Happiness cannot be traveled to, owned, earned, worn or consumed. Happiness is the spiritual experience of living every minute with love, grace and gratitude.

Edward Gibbon:

Revenge is profitable, gratitude is expensive.

Eric Hoffer:

The hardest arithmetic to master is that which enables us to count our blessings.

Francois de La Rochefoucauld:

Gratitude is merely the secret hope of further favors.

Frederick Turner:

To those who followed Columbus and Cortez, the New World truly seemed incredible because of the natural endowments. The land often announced itself with a heavy scent miles out into the ocean. Giovanni di Verrazano in 1524 smelled the cedars of the East Coast a hundred leagues out. The men of Henry Hudson's Half Moon were temporarily disarmed by the fragrance of the New Jersey shore, while ships running farther up the coast occasionally swam through large beds of floating flowers. Wherever they came inland they found a rich riot of color and sound, of game and luxuriant vegetation. Had they been other than they were, they might have written a new mythology here. As it was, they took inventory.

G. K. Chesterton:

You say grace before meals. All right. But I say grace before the concert and the opera, and grace before the play and pantomime, and grace before I open a book, and grace before sketching, painting, swimming, fencing, boxing, walking, playing, dancing and grace before I dip the pen in the ink.

H. U. Westermayer:

The Pilgrims made seven times more graves than huts. No Americans have been more impoverished than these who, nevertheless, set aside a day of thanksgiving.

Henry Ward Beecher:

Gratitude is the fairest blossom which springs from the soul.

Jean Jacques Rousseau:

There is nothing better than the encouragement of a good friend.

Johannes A. Gaertner:

To speak gratitude is courteous and pleasant, to enact gratitude is generous and noble, but to live gratitude is to touch Heaven.

John F. Kennedy:

As we express our gratitude, we must never forget that the highest appreciation is not to utter words, but to live by them.

Leroy [Satchel] Paige:

[D]on't pray when it rains if you don't pray when the sun shines.

New York Post, October 4, 1959


Marc Estrin:

Kindness trumps greed: it asks for sharing. Kindness trumps fear: it calls forth gratefulness and love. Kindness trumps even stupidity, for with sharing and love, one learns.

Marcel Proust:

Let us be grateful to people who make us happy; they are the charming gardeners who make our souls blossom.

Margaret Cousins:

Appreciation can make a day, even change a life. Your willingness to put it into words is all that is necessary.

Meister Eckhart:

If the only prayer you said in your whole life was, "thank you," that would suffice.

Melodie Beattie:

Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life. It turns what we have into enough, and more. It turns denial into acceptance, chaos into order, confusion into clarity.... It turns problems into gifts, failures into success, the unexpected into perfect timing, and mistakes into important events. Gratitude makes sense of our past, brings peace for today and creates a vision for tomorrow.

Rabindranath Tagore:

Power takes as ingratitude the writhing of its victims.

Ralph Waldo Emerson:

I awoke this morning with devout thanksgiving for my friends, the old and the new.

Ralph Waldo Emerson:

Conservatism makes no poetry, breathes no prayer, has no invention; it is all memory. Reform has no gratitude, no prudence, no husbandry.

The Conservative


Seneca:

There is as much greatness of mind in acknowledging a good turn, as in doing it.

Thomas Erskine:

In the New Testament, religion is grace and ethics is gratitude.

William James:

The deepest craving of human nature is the need to be appreciated.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/10/2009 08:55AM by la_veronique.

gratitude is good food

it is delicious

it is raw

and vegan

though it is very meaty as well LOL

gratitude for breakfast and a cup of gratitude

and then gratitude for snack

gratitude for lunch to go with the gratitude sticks and gratitude rolls

gratitude for snack #2

then gratitude for supper followed by mashed gratitude with collared greens

that's my kinda fare

yeahhhhhh!

gratitude i have heard also goes very well with champagne grapes ( small tiny purple grapes) and hawaiian papayas

Okay, well, actually THIS is my favorite quote from above. It is this Johannes A Gaertner's quote ( below) because it is a marriage between mere sentiment and action .. it is like a prayer being breathed walked and
ceaselessly mobilized and thus materialized. i think that things created via gratitude are already exquisitely endowed with great value.




Johannes A. Gaertner:

To speak gratitude is courteous and pleasant, to enact gratitude is generous and noble, but to live gratitude is to touch Heaven.

Okay, so here is my challenge. I would like some advise, opinions and perspectives in how to LIVE in gratitude or even enact gratitude. I am really curious as to how some people do it. I got my ideas but it will behoove me to improve a great deal more. i figure you all will have great ideas. i would like to hear specific stories or details but non specific is okay too

the one thing i can think of off the top of my head is that if i am grateful for something i have, then i use it to its fullest extent. Like, if i have a gift, then i use that gift. if i have a thing of parsley, then i thank that parsley for sacrificing its life for me as i make it into juice, smoothie or a delicious tabouli salad. if someone does something kind for me even by simply giving advice or listening, then i show my gratitude by returning the favor and seeing what i can do for them.

i guess in other words, i am trying to say, if i am given shoes, i will use them and run the shoes to the ground til i barely have any shoes left.

i did that once to these shoes that i had. but it wasn't a gift from someone else but it was something i gave to myself and i had these shoes for many years. and i wore it til it had holes in it ... i guess it reminds me of that ballerina shoes poster.. where it is a famous photo of a pair of ballerina shoes that are totally worn out. i guess the person who was gifted with the shoes or the feet or the ability showed gratitude by USING the shoes. but if there is also gratitude in the heart while dancing, i guess that is living in gratitude.

i guess that is the kind of stuff i would like to hear more of..

because i want to learn

and i think this is the secret ingredient to happiness like one of the quotes above says: ( Here is the quote from this dude below

Brother David Steindl-Rast :

Gratefulness is the key to a happy life that we hold in our hands, because if we are not grateful, then no matter how much we have we will not be happy -- because we will always want to have something else or something more.

I hope to create a rich rawlicious rollicking raspberry flavored minty basil
kissed discussion about this because it strikes me as being the most delicious food of all.

any takers? i know i've scrawled a lot but i still feel a bit limited so let's open the door to this and

e
x
p
l
o
r
e

let's see how long we can keep this up

think of it as GRATITUDE GRAFFITI

let's just keep writing on this wall

anything and everything

i don't really care

poetry is fine too

or even just a word or two

cuz it will feed my soul

and hopefully others too

kind of like the biblical splitting of the bread and the multiplication of fish

and all that

i think gratitude is like that

it multiplies stuff

okay, i've said enough

maybe i'll take a little gratitude nap now


whew!

LOL

Holding the frequency of intense presence is how I engage gratitude.

ffx

I had this saved from the secret newsletter. Nothing new here I think but worth sharing maybe. Thanks for posting this thread too. Its a very good reminder. Maybe we can have a gratitude thread somewhere on the forum where we can write down things we are greatful for and remind ourselves of the important things in life daily.

A Secret Scrolls message from Rhonda Byrne
Creator of The Secret

The greatest thief of human happiness and abundance is ungratefulness. Any lack in our lives - whether in money, health, or relationships - is simply the evidence of a lack of gratitude. If you focus on lack you are not being grateful, and that will bring more lack into your life. Yet the simple state of radiating gratitude summons everything to you.

No matter who you are or where you are, you can change your life with gratitude, but you must feel it with your whole heart and radiate it from every cell. Gratitude is not a mental exercise, and in fact, if you simply use your mind for gratitude it will have little or no power. True gratitude comes from your heart! You must think gratitude through your heart, speak gratitude through your heart, and feel it intensely in your heart.

Then practice gratitude relentlessly. As you practice gratitude you will attract more thoughts and feelings of gratitude. In a short time your entire being will be saturated with it, and you will experience a happiness that is beyond what you can imagine. This is what is ahead for you when you choose gratitude as your way of life. And if you can really live in this highest state of gratitude, you will never have to ask for anything. Everything you want will be given to you before you even ask, because gratitude is the magnetic substance that opens every single door in the Universe.

la veronique,
I have read many of your posts and I like where you are coming from.

I take a daily walk,usually about 40 min-1 hr long.
And I use that walk to be grateful for all I have.
For me thats a comfortable place to live.No mortgage.
The VAST wealth of knowledge on nutrition that God has led me to.
A great family.(I am 45 and still have even my grandparents.)
Two feet and a body that can get me anywhere I need to go ,or do.
Total freedom to start today to make my life any way I want (its almost been a blessing I never had kids or been married at this point).
My daily meditation times and journaling.
Tha fact I can sit in a park and feel at one with all of nature (others are so out of tune.I feel sorry for them).
That I have learned to appreciate fine music,speak without every other word being profane like some others,and care about those in need.

The list is long,but these are the main points.

Peace to all.

Vinny

Life is perfect, without expectations.

So many years I have lived in ungratefullness, At one time in my life I had a elder friend who would remind me to count my gratefulls and have me say at least three things I was gratefull for, to me that was such a painful thing to do is speak of something I was grateful for. That woman was trying to teach me Gratitude and I just did not understand. It has taken me so many years to understand this simple concept.

TO BE GRATEFUL FOR EVERYTHING

I find myself now speaking of gratitude for the car i drive for the breath I take for the family I have, for everything. I still have a long way to go but the more gratefull I am the more happy I feel. I am grateful for the bad the good the ugly in my life because it is my life.

Above all things to be grateful leaves no room for depression, dispare or sadness.

I love you La V for that post because this is the lesson I am learning and Gratitude is so new to me as well.

As for my favorite quote Henry Ward Beecher:

Gratitude is the fairest blossom which springs from the soul.

We cannot tell someone to be grateful we have to be gratefull and they will catch it from you.

Nice one Pampam. How have you been these days?
May we all take Gratefulness to the next level....being
Grateful for everything.....WY

\

fruit faery

<<<Holding the frequency of intense presence is how I engage gratitude.>>


YEAHHHHHHHHHHHHSSSSSSSSSSS!!!!!!!!! Bingo!


ROIRAW"

<<No matter who you are or where you are, you can change your life with gratitude, but you must feel it with your whole heart and radiate it from every cell. Gratitude is not a mental exercise, and in fact, if you simply use your mind for gratitude it will have little or no power. True gratitude comes from your heart! You must think gratitude through your heart, speak gratitude through your heart, and feel it intensely in your heart.>>

I also think that I am grateful for being able to feel this way... with my whole heart and being. There have been more times than I can count where I have not felt this way at all and it would have been an outright lie to have said that I felt grateful for anything. But being in this state.. not forced.. but simply and naturally is also a gift that I am grateful for. I think that it takes action to STAY in this place of gratitude. That is why I started this thread to see what action could be taken to stay in this place when gratitude falters. The only thing I could come up with is utilizing one's gifts to their highest capacity. I can't think of anything else but I know there must be. I think if someone has the ability to empathize... this is a gift.. and empathizing with others is being grateful that one has that gift. Something like that. I need to learn more... WAAAY more because I want to stay in this place forever. I think that being ungrateful is like eating cooked foods. It is a low vibration and a "slip up". Being in a place of gratitude is the more higher vibration and I want to stay there. What do you think of this analogy?

hi eaglefly

i really liked your post
that is quite fascinating that you actually set up a walk time to think of the list of things you are grateful for
well, maybe its not a list per se
but an overall feeling
i like it
i think i will try it

pam pam

i like the fact you like harriet beecher stowe's quote
that "gratitude is the fairest blossom that springs from the soul"

this is really true

it is what makes me feel rich

newhoove

<<Life is perfect, without expectations.>>

hi newhoove
i understand
but i think it would be cool if u could explicate on it further

not that it needs to be elucidated more

but if u feel like it

i'd like to hear more of what u mean by this or experience etc.

>>>I also think that I am grateful for being able to feel this way... with my whole heart and being. There have been more times than I can count where I have not felt this way at all and it would have been an outright lie to have said that I felt grateful for anything. But being in this state.. not forced.. but simply and naturally is also a gift that I am grateful for. I think that it takes action to STAY in this place of gratitude. That is why I started this thread to see what action could be taken to stay in this place when gratitude falters. The only thing I could come up with is utilizing one's gifts to their highest capacity. I can't think of anything else but I know there must be. I think if someone has the ability to empathize... this is a gift.. and empathizing with others is being grateful that one has that gift. Something like that. I need to learn more... WAAAY more because I want to stay in this place forever. I think that being ungrateful is like eating cooked foods. It is a low vibration and a "slip up". Being in a place of gratitude is the more higher vibration and I want to stay there. What do you think of this analogy? <<<

I like it. Its easy to relate to and makes a lot of sense. I guess its always going to be a journey and its so easy to forget. Having 'gratitude' in our 'self-help toolbox' though allows us to access it at the times when we most need it. Often the times we don't want to!

Roirraw,
For myself,I do find it hard to be in a state of gratitude when life seems to not go the way you think it should. Gratitude at those times seems plastic and forced.
I do think that using your talents in the highest capacity is indeed a way to stay on the "good side".
I guess it all boils down to perspective.Making up your mind to see the good in whatever happens.
I recently lost a relationship that seemed to be going well,yet since it ended,I have felt more inner peace than I have felt in years.That is all because I decided to remember the good things about it,and have compassion for the fact that the lady really did care about me but had pretty significant issues of her own to work out.
If you bathe any situation with gratitude,and know that no matter how it turned out it was for your best,I think that "higher vibration" will always be there.

Peace,

Vinny

hey vinny

that's pretty deep

needed to hear that
thanks

This is totally awesome. La_veroniuque I am so glad to see this. I have been doing a lot of spiritual searching also. Gratitude is what brings ultimate peace. You are right.

Thaks for the beautiful post.

God Bless,

Anu

eaglefly Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Roirraw,
> For myself,I do find it hard to be in a state of
> gratitude when life seems to not go the way you
> think it should. Gratitude at those times seems
> plastic and forced.
> I do think that using your talents in the highest
> capacity is indeed a way to stay on the "good
> side".
> I guess it all boils down to perspective.Making up
> your mind to see the good in whatever happens.
> I recently lost a relationship that seemed to be
> going well,yet since it ended,I have felt more
> inner peace than I have felt in years.That is all
> because I decided to remember the good things
> about it,and have compassion for the fact that the
> lady really did care about me but had pretty
> significant issues of her own to work out.
> If you bathe any situation with gratitude,and know
> that no matter how it turned out it was for your
> best,I think that "higher vibration" will always
> be there.
>
> Peace,
>
> Vinny

Hi Vinny
I believe that 'Life not going the way you think it should' is simply resistance to what is.
If you force gratefulness it will be 'plastic and forced'.
The key is to drop the resistance and practice acceptance.
In this space, inner peace and gratitude for what is naturally develops and blossoms.

ffx

Hey FF

<<The key is to drop the resistance and practice acceptance.
In this space, inner peace and gratitude for what is naturally develops and blossoms. >>

Thanks FF

I needed to hear this very much. I think this is key.

FF,
I fully agree with your response.
I guess I was just implying that it is not natural,at least for the unenlightened,to be grateful in the midst of things not going the way you want.
When you take on the attitude that no matter what happens,it is for your best benefit,that is acceptance,and from my experiences recently ,that is the most direct route to inner peace.
I am evolving into the acceptance you mentioned.

Vinny

la_veronique Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Hey FF
>
> <>
>
> Thanks FF
>
> I needed to hear this very much. I think this is
> key.

la_veronique
And the best thing about this is that its so much easier to do than it first appears.
One of those amazing occasions where the practice is easier than the theory!

What ever drama we find ourselves caught up in, just becoming fully present brings it to an end. Its that simple.
Great thread x

eaglefly Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> FF,
> I fully agree with your response.
> I guess I was just implying that it is not
> natural,at least for the unenlightened,to be
> grateful in the midst of things not going the way
> you want.
> When you take on the attitude that no matter what
> happens,it is for your best benefit,that is
> acceptance,and from my experiences recently ,that
> is the most direct route to inner peace.
> I am evolving into the acceptance you mentioned.
>
> Vinny

Hi Vinny
I understood your post, the impossibility of gratitude whilst unhappy about present circumstances.

I think that rather than concentrating on the good, its easier and gentler to focus on the whole.
By turning attention to either good or bad engages judgement.
Accepting the 'higher good' that you mentioned eradicates good and bad thus allowing acceptance.

I LOVE that anyone at any time may choose to engage and set themselves free!

I also LOVE that when things don't work out the way you want and you find yourself reacting and resisting to the situation, you can choose to stay in that place and feel the anger and pain or accept the situation and return to the place of inner stillness and peace.
I LOVE that life constantly challenges. A moment of resistance serves to remind that we are not totally present!
The choice is always ours!
ffx

Hi FF

It also saves a LOT of time to simply accept the way things are at that moment. Then, I can move on and CHANGE the situation. But resistance truly is futile. It takes a lot of energy when one could use that time to strategize to make a plan A B or C.

Life is perfect without expectations has been my new mantra I say to myself as of lately. I think it is important in life to not define yourself by who you think you are. You start to see everything in life based on how you perceive yourself and what you typically expect. For example, whenever you meet a new person you expect others to view you how others have viewed you in the past. It could be a good or bad thing. Meeting people should be a fresh/new experience each and every single time, 'new' friend or old friend.

By not having expectations for others or yourself, you view life with a whole new vision. Everyday is a new experience. When you get up in the morning, don't expect your groceries to be in your refrigerator because that's how you planned it to be. Experience the gift of having groceries, or your ingredients in your smoothie, with a new sense of life and gratitude. Breath in the smell of your vegetables and the feel of the fruit in your mouth. Don't go by not experiencing life because it has been so commonplace or expected for so long. Expectations are false-truths created by your own mind.

When you wake up without expecting, life is perfect. You live in the present. You are you.

I like that newhoove.

One way I look at each new day is to visualize pushing a "re-set" button every day you wake up.You re-set to a totally new day that has never happened before.You can bring with you the good things from days past,and let go of the bad.
I realize alot of this kind of thing must be very hard to grasp and experience when sometimes you have a lousy day,or are just so busy out there running around the world sneaks up on you and it all seems otherwise.
But thats just a perception.
And it isnt the truth.

Enter the whole world of meditation to center yourself once again.

Vinny

flying eagle says:

<< I realize alot of this kind of thing must be very hard to grasp and experience when sometimes you have a lousy day,or are just so busy out there running around the world sneaks up on you and it all seems otherwise.
But thats just a perception.
And it isnt the truth. >>


ain't THAT the truth

the new set of hooves explicates:

<<Breath in the smell of your vegetables and the feel of the fruit in your mouth. Don't go by not experiencing life because it has been so commonplace or expected for so long. Expectations are false-truths created by your own mind.>>



ahhhhh yeaaaaah.... my sniffer is tuned in to smell the scent of kale, broccoli and the deelish watermelon