Present Moment Attitude of Gratitude

My life is filled with sublime experiences...

even the everyday occurrences...

That is from the Daily Word for August 23: Present Moment.

The present moment for me lately has been:

• the moment I walk out of my house and see the flowers in our pots
• the moment I return home and am greeted with those same flowers in our pots
• the moment each morning when I see the beautiful blue morning glories
• the moment at Unity when I accomplish a new skill in the Constant Contact applications
  (thanks to Rebecca's training)
• the moment when I look across the living room and see my two doggies asleep on their pillows

Like most of us, I can list a lot of things I am grateful for. However, I also understand this concept:

Each of us has absolute dominion over our own thoughts and feelings. You can teach yourself to feel gratitude no matter what circumstance you find yourself in. You can choose gratitude. You don't have to feel grateful for anything. Just be grateful.

That is from Unity's Gratitude and Grace booklet I was referring to last week. There is a three-step process outlined in the essay "Grateful for Nothing" that shows us how to become grateful for nothing.

• First, list in your journal whatever you're grateful for.
• Second, notice how gratitude feels in your mind and body as you journal. Do this for several days.
• Third, invest some time generating the feeling of gratitude without the need for a reason. This gratitude is unconditional gratitude. It is not subject to outer things, events or people.

This "is a useful tool whenever you feel yourself sliding into undesirable states of unconsciousness such as fear, anger and guilt."

So in addition to the moments I list above, I am choosing to adopt an attitude of gratitude all the time. Like when I was driving to a doctor's appointment last week and got caught up in traffic, I had the opportunity to be grateful - not for something - but just to be grateful. When the summer heat gets to me, I take the opportunity to feel grateful - not for something - but just to be grateful.

This is how I want to show up in the world.

~ JEAN