Gratitude, love & sharing
Gratitude means seeing the goodness that abounds — even in hardship and depravity. It’s being aware of the divine in all.
Life is not easy. It’s all about learning. I am having an experience with this lady who so loved her kids that she gave and gave and gave. She thought that by giving they would come out brave and trong. What she didn’t realize is that there is such a thing as “over giving,” that she was not allowing her children to be and to discover their strengths.
The result is the exact opposite of what she intended. They grew up with fears and even with anger. It’s a hard lesson to learn.
I was thinking about this situation and thought about the advice I wanted to give. Then I thought I should practice what I preach. So I started thanking God for the family that I have, having the opportunity to make a difference. I thanked God for the air that I breathe, the water I drink, and so on.
When I sat down in meditation, I felt a whoosh of divine energy. So that’s how I do my meditation now, I start with a feeling of gratitude and invariably there is a direct and immediate infusion of love.
Gratitude is so important in life. When Daddy was in the stockade during martial law, all his businesses were taken from him at the snap of a finger. And while there for five years, he felt a profound sense of gratitude because he felt that while incarcerated he had found God. His favorite book Man’s Search for Meaning was by Victor Frankl, a legendary Austrian neurologist and psychiatrist, a Holocaust survivor. In a Nazi concentration camp where he was treated worse than an animal, he found the goodness of man.
I searched for him on the net and I found this: http://www.ted.com/talks/viktor frankl_youth_in_search_of_meaning. It’s Viktor talking at Ted Talks and he had me literally in tears. The book has sold over 10 million copies, is listed as one of the 10 most influential books in America, has been translated to 272 languages and he wrote the book in nine days!
One of the teachings of Viktor Frankl was we can’t choose the situations life presents us with but we have the power to choose how to respond. We can choose our reactions and that is what, in fact, makes us unique.
Choosing our response indicates choosing the way we see people and the world. Victor saw the goodness of man in a concentration camp. He survived and continues to make a difference long after he passed away. In that concentration camp, he observed that those who saw life negatively died more quickly.
Gratitude means seeing the goodness that abounds — even in hardship and depravity. It’s being aware of the divine in all.
Without gratitude, the world seems gray and rigid — and unloving. People are gray caricatures that come in and out of your life instead of the loving conduits that the divine has designed for you.
Gratitude means seeing the goodness in the little things. It means seeing the world with happy eyes. It means letting go of cynicism and negativity. It means giving the world a chance, giving people a chance that beyond whatever mistake, there is goodness. It means seeing the light at the end of the tunnel, the gold at the end of the rainbow. It means seeing the rainbow!
Gratitude implicates a life of happiness because the filter, the lens, is decidedly positive. It also implicates an openness to receive.
I then realized that when one raises kids and one insists on thank you, it’s not for oneself, but for them to understand and feel the spirit of gratitude. My experience of gratitude is of a light that shines in one’s being and spreads out in joy and goodness. A refreshing breath of fresh air that allows magic to happen.
The spirit of gratitude is not a platonic, lazy surrender to what is, but it is a base on which many good things can continually come. It is using one’s will to choose to see in a positive way. It is driving away cynicism and negativity through the power of one’s higher vision.
In this respect I find that the divine is similar to human beings. The gods seem to be more akin to giving when there is gratefulness and an openness to receive.
On the base of gratitude, it is possible to go on a forward momentum. In this light, I’m inviting you to celebrate the second anniversary of G Stuff with us on Oct. 23 to 25, Friday to Sunday, at R1 North Court of the Power Plant Mall (near Marks & Spencer).
I am grateful for all the support our customers have given us. We continue to make a difference in the lives of coconut farmers in Palawan. We will soon be expanding to Romblon and Saranggani as the VCO plants are currently being built.
We are continually looking for more ways to connect to the communities from the ground to the market. We are currently putting up fish processing plants in Samar and will soon be helping Carles in Iloilo, Mindoro and Batangas. My condition is that they don’t do dynamite or cyanide fishing and that they live in harmony and integrity.
We continue to help the abaca farmers in Saranggani and the women in Basey, Samar. We have exciting Christmas bundles that will help the communities.
The other day I met a group of young and very idealistic university professors. They talked about launching a political movement based on love and collectivism and the major agenda of which is care for the environment.
I loved the idea! If one loves one won’t damage the environment because this causes suffering. One won’t be corrupt because corruption is inherently self-centered. One will serve because the main expression of love is service.
It’s an idea that needs to be worked on but that day I felt a profound sense of gratitude for the goodness that exists in the universe. I felt the heavens intermingling with people’s thoughts, guiding us.
See you in Rockwell, I will be giving a talk at 3 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday and will be sharing what I am currently doing for better health, among other topics.
Sharing, gratitude and love. Life is good.
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For inquiries about our G Stuff anniversary, call Gus de Castro at 0917-4471453 or email bdmgusdc@gmail.com.
I can be reached at regina_lopez@abs-cbn.com.
