It was in a simple, boring, mundane moment when I was stopped in my tracks.
I was actually stepping outside to bring in my garbage bin that had just been emptied by the garbage collector. It doesn’t get more boring and mundane than that, right?
I stepped out of my back door and looked at my garden. Wow. What a beautiful garden I have. I’m so blessed.
I don’t know why on that particular morning it hit me so deeply. And only momentarily. But for that moment, I recognised my blessing. I think I even stopped breathing just for that second.
Many a time I’ve looked at my garden and thought that it’s pretty. But this was different. In that moment I felt a deep sense of gratitude and awe. As I started walking again, gratitude for my home and my life also flitted through my mind. But the depth of what I felt in the first instance soon dissipated.
Don’t get me wrong. On a conscious level, I’m very grateful for the life I have. I live in a lovely house, with a pretty garden. I have peace and freedom. Every night before going to bed, I write 1 – 3 statements of gratitude for my gratitude jar.
I “get” the concept of being grateful.
But this particular morning, it wasn’t simply acknowledging my gratitude. It was a deep-felt connection into my soul. It was just for a moment but the ‘wow’ factor did stop me in my tracks. At the deepest level I can possibly get to, I knew that I am blessed, that I have an incredible life, and that I am safe and taken care of.
I’m still on a journey of discovery of change. I read and explore many different authors and soak up their discourse on gratitude. They all have one common piece of advice when it comes to being happy:
Be grateful.
Up until now, being grateful has been a head experience for me. Now I know what it feels like to be a heart or soul experience. And I also now know that it can’t be forced. I wish it could be because, boy, did it feel amazing.
Who knows, maybe over time I will get to experience it at that level more often. I’d be very happy to be taken by surprise and stopped in my tracks like that again. But in the meantime, I’ll keep doing what I know to do – even, if for now, it remains a head experience. I’ll keep acknowledging, on purpose, the things I’m grateful for, writing them down and putting into my gratitude jar.
