Being Grateful 365 a Year

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I don't do well when I'm away from my gratitude blog for a day or two. I get cranky, depressed, angry, even lethargic. Of course, I want this blog in particular to be a blessing to anyone who reads it. But having been unable to write for a couple of days I realize that my gratitude list is for me.

The question that's been popping up for me the last few days is, "Can I be truly grateful 365 a year?" When I am unemployed, homeless, with the IRS and bill collectors breathing down my back, can I continue to live with utmost gratitude for the gift that is my life? Do I even consider my life to be a gift especially when things seem so grim?

Being grateful is a choice I make each day. Upon arising in the morning, all the "to do's" and the "oh my god, what if's" try to crowd into my mind with my first cup of coffee. I have the option of succumbing and riding the wave of unconsciousness, or I can begin yet again to list the things for which I'm grateful. I know once I get started that those things will far outweigh the woes that threaten to drown me.

I find that the less I have, the more grateful I am. For example, a year ago I had to move from my home of 15 years. In two weeks time, I gave away over 3/4 of all my personal belongings. I have very little as far as personal property goes now. Yet the little I do have has so much more meaning. Having less, I have the time and the space to feel gratitude for those things that remain with me. My burden is light-I no longer am a slave to the mortgage payment and the monthly credit card and utility bills. I am free in a way I haven't experienced since childhood.

About three months into this massive transitional phase of mine, a fellow Lightworker asked, "Martha, are you grateful yet?" My answer was, "Not yet, but I know I will be." I remember reading in one of Neale Donald Walsch's Conversations with God books that we reach a degree of mastery when we learn to appreciate those things which we do not like. Having faith that the Universe knows what it's doing as it stirs us around and places us where we are needed helps on the days when I'm not feeling so grateful. My faith in Divine Order helps me look with anticipation beyond the appearances of everyday challenges to the ultimate good that the Universe is orchestrating. Learning to say "thank you" in the midst of the crisis is a sign of great growth. It opens our hearts and puts us in a position to receive our highest good-and that is always greater than that for which we, with our little minds, have asked.

Namaste!

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All My Relations

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I attended my first sweat lodge in May, 2009. My friend who is into Native American ceremony called me the week before the sweat lodge was scheduled. The store at which I'd been working was closing its doors, and I was feeling like a victim of river rapids. When I told her my situation, she responded with her usual, "You'd better come sweat!" Always before, I'd told her I'd think about it but begged off when it was time to sweat. That day, however, I said I thought I would just do that.

Participation in sweat lodge had a profound effect on me at many different levels. The most profound experience for me, however, was that although I am not Native American and know just enough about Native American tradition to be dangerous, I knew that I was welcome and felt a communal embrace from all who were there. The Native American greeting "Mitakuye Oyasin" or "all my relations" was being practiced quite literally by those participating in sweat lodge.

This experience was the opposite of one I'd had two months prior to sweat lodge. A dear friend who is a pastor in a protestant denomination asked me to speak at one of her lenten services during Lent. The topic of her Lenten series was "who's your neighbor," and she had asked several people with very different beliefs to speak.

I grew up in a protestant church, so I had no fear of speaking to this group of people. After all, they were Christians and therefore all-loving like Christ, weren't they? I was stunned and taken aback by the hostility I felt from this congregation as I explained my work as a Lightworker and Healer. I think that if they could have gotten away with it they would have burned me at the stake right there in their sanctuary. I left very disheartened because regardless of a person's beliefs it would never occur to me to demonstrate hostility to another human being.

What I noticed first and foremost at sweat lodge was that everyone was welcome, regardless of their religious beliefs. The second prayer round was for us to say our prayers for others-even those we do not like. Since the group represented a lot of different faiths, we were asked to pray aloud in the manner in which we usually pray and feel comfortable. It is a powerful experience when people of different faiths raise their voices together and release their prayers to the Grandfathers, to Spirit, to God as each of us understands Him/Her. I actually felt my heart open during this round as I lifted up my loved ones-and my not so loved ones-and released them to Spirit.

Finally when it was time to exit the lodge, we were told when we exited to bow our heads to the ground and say "all my relations." I loved this statement. Of course, I first thought of my children, my parents, my sister, aunts and uncles. But "all my relations" encompasses so much more. It is a profound statement and declaration of our interconnectedness to every other human, to the plants, animals, the planet, and an acknowledgment of our place in the Universe.

Humanity is going through a massive transformation right now, and as part of the human family, we are all affected. I truly believe that the only way for us to make it through the next few chaotic years, we will have to
come together on a global scale. Knowing that what we do to others we also do to ourselves and with an awareness of our relatedness to each other will make this transformation go more smoothly.

This is my wish for myself as well as for all other beings-All My Relations!

St. Mary Magdelene

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I sit alone in the hospital waiting room. My mother, with whom I have always been close, is having a biopsy done. Being there with her is something I want to be able to do. She has always been there for me no matter what difficulties I may have faced.

I picked up a book to read while I wait. It happens to be Margaret Starbird's book, Mary Magdalene: Bride in Exile. Margaret Starbird's works on Mary Magdalene heavily influenced the topic of my doctoral dissertation, The Return of the Sacred Feminine. When I was nearing the end of writing that dissertation and seemed blocked, I prayed to Mary Magdalene and told her that all I wanted was to do her justice. Miraculously, within two days I was done with a project I'd worked on for over a year.

Now as I sit waiting for the doctor to come tell me how my mother is, I realize today's date-July 22. It is the feast day of St. Mary Magdalene, the patron saint of frail and penitent women. What more perfect and appropriate day to have this biopsy done!

The doctor is here. He tells me my mother is doing fine. Although we won't have the lab results for a week, he assures me that he sincerely doubts there is a malignancy.

Once more, I give thanks to St. Mary Magdalene. She has guided and supported me through one more of life's challenges.

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I Love You, I'm Sorry, Please Forgive Me, Thank You

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A couple of years ago while listening to Dr. Joe Vitale's CD program, The Missing Secret, I learned about a clearing and cleaning technique called Self Identity Ho'oponopono. Dr. Vitale described the amazing results of Dr. Ihaleakala Hew Len in Hawaii when he used this technique in his practice on a hospital ward for the criminally insane. In fact, Dr. Len's story was so amazing that I knew I had nothing to lose and everything to gain by using this technique.

Based on an ancient Hawaiian problem solving process, Ho'oponopono, means cause (Ho'o) perfection (ponopono). Morrnah Simeona originally created the process from the ancient Hawaiian teachings. Dr. Len later updated it to develop Self-Identity Ho'oponopono. It is one of the simplest techniques to learn and to implement in everyday life that I have ever used. The process itself involves repentence, forgiveness, and transmutation.

Understanding that we are 100% responsible for attracting everything into our lives-people, places, situations AND our feelings about what we have attracted-is key to begin work with this technique. My experience has been that even if I start without acknowledging my total responsibility, as I repeat the mantras, not only do I accept responsibility but I also feel and experience healing in all situations that may be bothering me.

So, simply stated-and this is the simplest of techniques-Ho'oponopono consists of repeating the following four mantras over and over again:

I love you
I'm sorry
Please forgive me
Thank you

At first glance, it sounds too simple, and even a bit off the wall. However, those four simple statements are powerful tools for clearing away old limiting beliefs that are blocking you from what you say you want and bringing you back to your natural state of perfection.

I won't go into the specifics of how Ho'oponopono works. There are many good websites that address this technique. All you have to do is repeat the mantras, either aloud or silently, over and over again for any person or situation that is causing you to feel out of sync. I found that when I first started using the technique, other things would come up as I repeated the mantras that could also use healing. If this happens to you, don't worry about it. Just continue repeating! I have done this for so long that the mantras are repeating themselves in all situations in the back of my mind.

One of the advantages of using Ho'oponopono is that you don't have to know the cause of what's bothering you. Many people give up when they are asked to dig deep to find causes of their problems. I often felt confused and frustrated because I couldn't put my finger on it. But as I used the mantras on the frustration, I gained clarity and insight that I'd not before had.

Today I'm grateful for Ho'oponopono and to those who shared it with us.

I love you!
I'm sorry!
Please forgive me!
Thank you!

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The Gratitude List

I was member of a 12-step program for over 15 years. One of the tools we used in that program was the dreaded gratitude list. Just let one of us complain about ANYTHING-whether it was being abused by an intoxicated spouse or a hangnail-and we were given "the assignment"! Make a gratitude list. You will make gratitude lists until you are grateful. And what you will be most grateful for is when you no longer have to make a list!!!!

Seriously, gratitude is probably the most necessary component to having a joyous life. The happiest people I know are those who can look at what appear to be dire circumstances in their lives and are grateful. My own experience is that when I'm not absolutely grateful for everything in my life, I have no joy.

When my son was in high school, he was part of a mission trip to Jamaica. What impressed him the most while he was there was that most of the Jamaican people live in dire poverty, yet they are truly happy all of the time. They are grateful for what they have each day, and they aren't worried about what they don't have.

I had a friend years ago who suggested due to my attitude at the time that I should make a gratitude list. He said if I did it right, it would take me several days to complete. I didn't like what he said at the time, but I also knew he was right. If I am still here, breathing, I obviously have everything I need to be alive right now. And if I take time to look, I have much for which to be grateful.

The wonderful thing about gratitude lists is that after you get started, you begin to feel better. When we fill our minds with things we like, there is no room for those things we don't like. We are focusing on what we have instead of what we don't have.

This blog is for you. I wanted to create a space where people can come to give a blessing, receive a blessing, share a blessing. So please feel free to start your own gratitude list here and now. Take your time with this. Sometimes it takes awhile before you begin to feel good. But you will hit on something-maybe a very small something-that is just the thing to lift your spirits. It will make you feel so much better!

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