The Ease of Gratitude

Day 9

Up: 7:13am

Left for School: 8:32am

Video: Louie Schwartzberg: Gratitude

"Take each breath in as if it is your first; let each escape as if it is your last." These are some of the first words I ever heard in my meditation group, DIY Dharma.  I was new to group meditation, and these words resonated with me in my newness. The phrase asks us to savour every moment, to really be in the present time.  There was a similar point made in today's video, where Louie Schwartzberg asks an elderly man to explain how he reveals his happiness. The man says, and I'm paraphrasing, to open your eyes and really see the world for the first time. 

So what if every time we used one of our senses, we imagined that it was our first time that we have shared this experience with the world? What if every time we parted from this sensory experience, we imagined that it was the last time we would or could ever encounter it.Wouldn't we cherish it? Wouldn't we grow ever more grateful? 

It was a perfect day to see this video! The man also spoke about how we see weather as a black or white , finite distinction. It's either nice out, or not. But, he says, what we should be doing is experiencing each thing as it is and being grateful that it is am impossibility for this specific set of circumstances to ever duplicate themselves.  The clouds can never be the same. The rain will never pitter patter in the same order.

Today, when I was walking Sadie, it was drizzling. I grinned to myself.  When I left for school, it was pouring, and I could not have been more grateful.