Gratitude for Helping Hands

Creator I give thanks for the helping hands of my life. Bless those hands that are there without my knowledge. Bless the people who have worked to benefit my life. Bless them and their families. Give us the guidance to use our abilities to our greatest usefulness.

A couple of years ago I was given the opportunity to ride along with my friend, Tom Rosten, during the course of his workday. Tom is an engineer. He is a part of the management of the extensive San Joaquin Delta here in northern California. Tom, knowing my spiritual path and my interest in photography, invited me to experience the wildlife and scenery. We saw hawks, egrets, blue heron, and ducks. We witnessed a drawbridge moving up towards the sky, something that Tom had seldom witnessed of that particular bridge. Tom talked to one of the ranchers, and was explaining his thoughts about what he could see in a soil sample. I was looking away from them but listening to his words. The soil was speaking to him. By looking at it in his hand he knew that there was a problem with that particular stretch of levy by its color and texture. What I was looking at while their conversation was running through my head, was, a couple of dozen farm workers using a long sharp tool. They were jabbing the tool into the ground harvesting asparagus. It never occurred to me that asparagus was harvested that way but it made sense. Then a lesson of gratitude spoke to me. Everyday there are many hands caring for me. These hands touch the soil to ensure the safety of the levies; they work to grow the food; they load the food on trucks; drive the trucks; they stock the shelves. At any given time there are many helping hands in my life, in many different aspects.

Gratitude

Creator, thank you for your kindness in all that is created for our benefit, for those things that we can plainly see, for those unseen, for those that bring beauty and joy, and for those which appear destructive. Gratitude is ours.

Gratitude is a personal work. It is a realization or feeling that can be cultivated with practice. The reason I explore gratitude in my first blog is because it is a stepping off point for many other realizations. To realize gratitude you must first realize that you are a receptor, or a receiver. One way to cultivate this within your self is to create a gratitude list.

Example:
I am grateful because
My heart is beating
I can breathe on my own
I can hear
I can see
I can walk
I can talk
I can write
I have water
I have food
I have a safe place to sleep
Etc.

It is best to get as detailed with this list as possible, and state the obvious. There will be a time when there is a loss of the obvious on your list. In these times, the more that is on your list the better. Gratitude is the first step I take in attempting to elevate myself above, or recognize, my own self-pity, self-seeking, sadness, guilt, self-destruction, or heart-break, to allow even my shortcomings to become a source of gratitude.

For the average human being this should be a long list. The many systems within our body that simply keep us living are a long list by itself if you think about it. If you are reading this there are many things you can choose to be grateful for.

Write this list on something and keep it. From time to time read this list. The list will be a reminder of the obvious. The list will be a tool to realize what can currently be added. Gratitude is truly a choice, and can be strengthened with practice.