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And you don’t feel like writing a blog post. You just want to remind everybody to be grateful for every moment. You never know when your friends will die.
This is a reminder to myself. Now, when I scroll through my blog over the next 80 years, I’ll see this post and remember: Be Grateful.
The older I get the more I hear about gratitude. A lot of smart people say it’s the ultimate human disposition, the pinnacle of human expression. Fr. Brendan Lally, a Jesuit at Saint Joseph’s, says that a grateful heart cannot sin. To “sin” means to fall short of all that you could be. Gratitude helps you align with your fullness.
So future Aaron, if you’re reading this, stop what you’re doing and be grateful. A moment is all it takes. Breathe in. Feel it. Let it go. Let it overcome you. Gratitude in this moment and the moments to come.
I once herd it said that, “A gift is only a gift when it’s given a second time.” The man I heard this from said it was a Native American tradition, one that involved a selfless sharing. In the age of personalized packages sent across the world at the click of a button, this tradition has lost traction.
What would it mean to give the gifts you receive a second time? It would be case specific, but there also are probably some similar principles evident throughout. Perhaps, that if something is given to you, it isn’t really yours but is now under your jurisdiction. Maybe this is a reminder that nothing is really ours, that everything is merely borrowed from Mother Earth.
If that’s the case, then maybe giving a gift a second time entails honoring the gift by using it for a life-affirmative purpose, one that returns life back to the earth we take from. Maybe. Or maybe, more simply, it’s about using gifts for a purpose greater than yourself. This broader vision would surely culminate in giving back to source.
As the days of gift giving come to an end, think about the gifts you’ve received throughout your life, both the tangibles and the intangibles. Respond to them with gratitude. Then, and only then, should you share our gift with the rest of creation, affirming it in its holy wholeness.
You’ve heard it said a thousand times from mom, grandmom, and that snarky barista: “I made it with love.” But what if the attitude of the chef or creator actually has an impact—biochemically—on the food we eat?
It’s not an unreasonable claim. My anatomy professor says the heart is merely a pump and that all emotions, be it love or anger, come from your head. But there’s millions of people around the world who believe the heart produces electrochemical, magnetic resonances that extend into the space around a one’s body.
What if those people are right? Suppose it’s true. Suppose the aura emitted by your heart is dictated by emotions. Suppose that aura has electric and magnetic charges. All food is made of elements and molecules (like water) that change in structure and behavior if charged. Thus, the aura of the chef changes the meal while it’s being prepared.
Maybe that aura resonates different frequencies for gratitude and distress. Maybe food responds likewise.
Maybe “Made with Love” makes more of a difference than we think.
I’ve been feeling a bit down recently. Sometimes it’s death that gets me down and sometimes it’s just small waves of inexplicable sadness. When it happens, I try to make time to be with myself instead of distracting myself like usual. Today I went to the park before mass.
After really thinking about my life, I made a list of the person I want to be and what that person would do. There’s a famous Matthew McConaughey speech where he says his hero is himself in ten years. I feel that. After making my list, I looked it over and realized how blessed I am to even have this life to worry about.
In that moment, I was grateful. I wrote down a list of 10 things I am most grateful for. 4 of those things had to do with the sacredness within myself and in those around me. I find that if I turn to gratitude in a time of distress, I’m less likely to be upset. It’s always a good answer.