The Power of Gratitude

I really have always believed in in tuning in to change, or the seasons, and just kind of staying connected with life and whatever is happening and move with that rather than resist that. And I really love, I mean the fall season, summers great, it's that you know it's like everything's full you know summertime and for some people change is difficult whether it's seasonal or personal or jobs or relationships or whatever but really I mean it's life is easier when we can start to see what's happening and kind of move with it, right? You see a wave

coming, you start paddling, you ride the wave as opposed to pretending it's not coming and getting toppled by it. So you know we just kind of ride the wave get the field yeah every year you know I'm next month I'll be doing my co-creating a new life workshop again it's an online course as well as live here but co-creating a new life like like it's start a new year with something like human beings are just used to doing the same thing all the time just kind of stuck and then the seasons change they pass they go why why isn't anything

getting better in my life and it just doesn't make sense to me at the very least ride the wave of seasons if nothing else which would include letting things die at the appropriate time Falls a pretty good time to let things pass it's a pretty good time to take an inventory to see what isn't working you know you you might not want to learn you know expect everything to be at its peak in the dead of winter because it's not a problem if things are great in winter obviously but I'm talking about the fruits of life or of projects or

whatever it happens to be nature says let's go a little dormant so we go inside so if we're not used to gardening our soul on a regular basis we make no sense when we complain about not having any harvest it really just doesn't make any sense getting in the flow going with the groove of things recognizing how do I expect something to get better if in the old version of it hasn't passed away and so on and so it's saying the same thing in different ways so at this time you know the fall season it's nice man like what's not working I've

seen it here at unity which I love seeing you know not that it's all fun but I can recognize the trend typically when things end whether it's a person working here or a certain program we have it whatever often they end in the fall and it's not an accident it's as though nature says well I know you guys are kind of ready for this anyway because you know how to prepare for the season so it kind of you know we sort of put it out there and it sort of sends it back as well but we're in the groove of that the fall season and I've always

thought to myself you know look at it the colors man I mean it's pretty glorious when you see some of the seasonal changes in most states in the country or around the world the seasons you know the animals make changes and they're the birds you know and all that but the leaves on the trees I mean sometimes they look like they're on fire there's this brilliant red yellow kind of thing going on it's just breathtaking and those will also continue turning darker and darker colors they will shrivel up they'll fall

off the trees and I always think because my mind works kind of in analogies and metaphors and I think to myself you know that's it you know we love the colors but a lot of people don't celebrate when they're falling off the trees you know and they they're all dark and all on the ground and now you got to rake them you know you know and you maybe you could try to make that positive you know if you have a blower you know you can crank it and watch your model fly everywhere but eventually you still got to pick them up again so you know it the mind

the human mind if I don't like what I see I don't like it I stay in the I don't like it kind of mode and nature doesn't do that at all which we can switch means we're out of nature if we're not doing what nature does so the leaves fall and that's an evergreen but if this were a tree and one next to it and the one behind that and all that there's leaves and they turn beautiful but then they they turn dark and then I think well what does that mean in us because you know when we lose things when they changed it becomes it becomes

kind of dark sometimes you know though the grief of looking over the last year someone passed away or looking over the year and this changed or that changed or something didn't quite go the way you want even when something doesn't go the way you want it's a form of a death and fall is a nice time to start getting what passed away really getting it learning from it not just barely making it through fall and winter but really really getting on board with it and I think if any of us saw someone out in our yard here or

someone down the street or in your neighborhood with you know super glue trying to put the leaves back on the tree you know I mean think about it you wouldn't be like oh brilliant idea then why do we keep trying to glue the relationships back on the tree and glue the jobs back on the tree when they're falling nature's like what what is it what's the problem here see the leaves falling let go and we're like no no no this could work but they're still dead and brown I have spray paint you know you can't you can't spray paint your

relationships back in don't you know something although that could be sexy in some ways but I don't know where that came from so huh no I have no experience in that Square whatsoever but if you do use water-based so anyway so you know the you don't spray paint relationships back into existence you you don't you know you don't spray paint or glue a job back into place I mean really think about it and even though I make fun sometimes it's really deep a process that's very deep at times when you think about it for some people we can make

light of it but for some people that ending of a relationship was devastating that ending of a job sometimes is terrifying so I make light but I'm also well aware of the depth of those experiences for people even if it's just the loss of a dream and that's hard man okay you know I wanted something to happen and then you know Minh I remember a friend of mine who just getting by with a particular job that was kind of what he thought was kind of menial and he didn't believe he had a lot of skills and confidence in

all this and you know he went through 40 years of working and in you know just what he thought to be kind of menial jobs and never really had anything going for him and then I remember this one day he called me said there's one thing he had excited him he was a collector of oldies he had every song you heard of in the past 50 60 s and some you didn't hear about you didn't hear him he loved b-sides that nobody ever heard before that he thought those bands to get credited for they should be these these songs deserved as much play as the

a side pop songs he was just this advocate but that's all he was you know it would be him by himself talking about this stuff most of the time and then he realized oh my god with this whole internet and with the the websites and I could create a site they could keep all the collections of songs so people could find all this lost music nice and I heard it in him I'm like god I've never heard this person like on a Richter scale of happiness I've never seen him beyond a5 and all of a sudden he's an 8 a 9 my heart was so like wow but to see

no computer skills and no money to pay people with computer skills and know this and know that he ended up it dying you know and I didn't talk to him a lot about it I didn't want to belabor it but I could just feel the heartbreak you see just it's like wow people get this investment I'm not saying a bad advice I'm saying they get this investment I want something to go right today I want something to go right this year let this be my first relationship that works the problem is all too often it's us trying to manufacture that thing this

time it's going to work as I'm going to and then it still doesn't work and our hearts get broken proportionately to how invested we were honestly so we learn weight even though I thought this was going to be a better relationship even though I thought this was going to be finally my dream as soon as you say finally you've already made a statement which means it's never been there and there's pressure on it what I would do is start finding all the bits in my life that I could go back and give credit for so there's less pressure on that new

relationship listen I really like meeting you that feels like a great connection I need you to know I need you to know you're gonna need to make up for every relationship every went wrong so listen and you know I don't want to be weird and selfish I've made a list so you don't have to do a lot of work I've made a list for you so you'll know exactly what not to do and what you need to do you know that would be like to the other person and some people are disturbed enough to go okay you know I'll do that but really what they should

do is go wow I'm really sorry that all that happened that way here's what I'd like to do let me step back and let's become friends and talk about those old wounds let's process them and heal them so they don't become things put on me and the same with a job and the same with a dream back off man relax it let the tension off of it and one way to do it is learning to give thanks I'm not referring to a gratuitous thanks okay when I watch this TV you know this thing on the Internet today or I attended service and Michael Sainte give thanks

so fine okay no I give thanks for the terrible family I have I give thanks for all of my horrible relationships in the past that's not how I'm saying to do it first of all definitely give thanks for anything that ever went well even small and large in a small and large even the small items that went well Wow okay and you think it's menial you know it's too minor - nothing's too minor - give thanks because thanks actually breeds a new consciousness thinks is not just a kind thing or a polite thing to do

thanks actually creates a new level of consciousness it's the gratitude is so powerful people have completely misunderstood it gratitude but like most things on earth we didn't use it properly we made it into I'm grateful for the little I have and it's supposed to be first of all gratitude easy gratitude for things I've received if you have neglected giving thanks for things that were good that you received that really speaks to being a wounded person because if I don't give thanks for the good things it means I'm still

waiting for the other shoe to drop it means I take things for granted that's the mindset I have when I say that's it forget it wait from now on I'm gonna start giving thanks for good things you're breaking one of the worst addictions that you could possibly have the lack of gratitude taking things for granted so that's great what about the things that didn't go so well what about abuses now you've got these people out in the world that the folks that think they know something and they really don't those people kind of the teachers

out there many of them are teachers and authors and they'll say well you know what you have to do you have to learn to give thanks if somebody horribly wounded you or your loved ones you just have to learn to give thanks for that experience which makes no sense whatsoever but that's a common teaching and I know everybody watching and listening and sitting here has heard at least one person tell you that well you have to give thanks well but I don't get it this person I heard with them and they did this and this and this and they took

everything and they left me with nothing and it was very hurtful well but thank them you're not asked by Spirit to give thanks for hurtful things which would then advocate those hurtful things lift those hurtful things into like hey that's great bring on some more that's not the affirmation you want to give the universe hey listen I'm giving thanks for all the abuses I love it bring it on more that's not what you're trying to be doing gratitude for the negative experiences it's only gratitude

for what you chose to learn from it don't think any hurtful experience including your own to others it's not God when you're hurtful so why would you give thanks to something that isn't God because it a business isn't God it isn't real why would you give thanks to things that aren't real give thanks to what Israel which is what you learned so you don't have to say I'm grateful for someone who abused me when I was a child and that's what some teachers are telling you well just thank them anyway and thank them for the experience and

some of them I'll tell you and you know thank them because you're the one who created it it's just all weird they need therapy these kinds of teachers men that need some therapy just back to basics therapy human beings do not need to be making excuses and enabling hurtful behavior instead you can learn to say you know what I can see that it was hurtful you start there I can see that it was hurtful but I'm starting to learn something from it I started learning how to set boundaries not bad wow this person was

really abusive that was my partner but I'm not thinking they're abusiveness that doesn't make any sense but I am giving thanks for what I learned from this I got better boundaries now and what did you learn from this and that I learned how to raise children in a better environment than the one I was raised in that's what I'm saying gratitude for healthy things and another thing that's underestimated that I sort of just said but I'll go back and address which is acceptance if you want to learn how to really land the idea of

gratitude healthy Thanksgiving unhealthy gratitude one skill one technique one tool learn the the qualities the power of accept which means what I just said a second ago which is I'll start with where I am see if if someone says well I have health issues so I'm supposed to give thanks for the illness no but you can give thanks for what you're learning from the illness I learned to take better care of myself or Witter like that right positive positive positive positive positive but when someone says

I don't like my health and it's just a drag what a bummer that I'm sick and so on what you do is instead of bemoaning the problem you start with what would you like to do about it well I want a completely healthy body okay great but let's start with where you are I want to lose a hundred and ninety pounds I wish I were thinner wishing is not healthy believe it or not accepting how much you weigh today is where you start you know I'd like to just love this as I am NOT wishing I weren't you know I I kind of wish I looked like this well

instead you look like Santa Claus get a red coat and start jolly laughing when you go walk down the street dig that start with that I wish I were this and I wish I were that start with worry I wish I didn't have this challenging relationship but you do wishing you didn't have it isn't gonna help so start with okay honey what do you think about some counseling denial is what you're doing when you're wishing something else and when you're saying oh look look I have a whole closet because my motivational speaker told me to keep

my size one clothes but your size hundred and one now I know but this is an affirmation I'm one day gonna get there I don't mean to sound negative but I doubt it you know I if I were you let's start with loving you as you are and then manageable achievements measurable manageable achievements when you say well I don't know how to give thanks and do acceptance about money I'm on food stamps you know or whatever I don't know if they scab those still or call them that still but I'm on food coupons and

that sort of thing start with that instead of gosh I wish I weren't on this you have food stamps start with thank you because you could also not have them I wish I were healthy let's start with you are at least as healthy as you are and let's accept the problems that are going on with your body and let's do something wishing it weren't happening is not a positivity at all what is it doesn't sound positive what is positive is accepting what is first while the leaves are falling I wish summer would have lasted long thanks for

sharing but it didn't now what get a coat you know so now what but the leaves are all falling I wanted to get some pictures of the trees did you well no okay get him next year but you didn't get him but I wish I had it because I wanted to put one on my refrigerator go on the internet little download one like the ego-mind wants to keep finding fault and wants to keep wishing things that are not and all I'm saying that is get it together grow up wake up and start with this is what is great examples of that I've shared a story or two of like

this before but King David's got a son that's gonna die and King David he won't eat no no thing I mean he's just filthy and you know he's just like disheveled and and you know all messed up and he won't see anyone and he's not eating and all he's doing is praying and praying and praying for his son to not die that was his only focus but the son died so first everybody's trying to you know you got to come out you gotta know my son's still alive I'm going to put focus on this right now come on you know God

yeah I know you can help him and if this is anything I've done and coming back to me I'm saw I want everything to be fine and the kid died anyway King David you know cleans up CheY washes he comes out let's have a feast and they're like what do you bipolar like a second ago we couldn't get you to smile and now you want a feast he says when that was happening I did that fully he's died now and I can't change that now now it's time to do something else that kind of objectivity

most of us don't have I would like the leaves to be on the but they're not so now do something else now go cut a couple of the twigs and make a nice decor for winter in the house tie bulbs to it you know do something different there's an old story about a guy who you know a farmer and this wind comes the storm and rain and wind comes and this great great big fruit tree whatever kind of fruit this big fruit tree in his yard topples over and this was known by all the neighbors everybody was so like wow that's the

best fruit tree we've ever seen the thing falls over now the neighbors driving by it all what a bummer all lost that tree huh gosh you know what are you gonna do the farmer said I'll pick the fruit and then burn the wood you get the point get what you can now and move well we could all sit around to going oh that's terrible let's look at the other side of the tree all wow you know like some people yeah yeah the tree sure fell didn't it you know oh it fell big Wow I wonder how much it made a noise when it hit the ground I don't know probably

big noisy hall rumors all around the general store heard there was a lot of noise of a tree falling over it Michael's place you know people just that touch talking and this guy's going let's pick the fruit put used to it earn the wood that's the practical mind that's a really living in the moment spiritual mind the part of us that thinks no no no we got to obsess and fix it it's just not it's actually not practical and also you're not living in peace when you're having those obsessions what I wish I could do with I

wish didn't happen what can you get from that that's all that's all Nature does the story of Jesus and the fig tree some people are still freaked out about that whole thing I don't even want to hear about that story because I don't understand the Apostles in Jesus you know they're walking you know through the valleys and traveling and whatever and they come upon a fig tree they walk over oh we want to get some figs oh there's no figs and then the way the story reads is Jesus the master Lord a--the Jesus have become angry with the

tree of and curseth the tree like there's Jesus going oh ho you fig tree I wanted some fruit today how dare you not bear fruit ah you you know who I am the only begotten Son of God and I hate you fig tree and the Fix trees like screaming as it shrivels I mean this is the way they tell the story in the Bible and the way preachers will talk about it don't be like a fig tree cuz the Lord will look at you and you'll shrivel and die you know and there's another version of the story where Jesus said oh look the fig trees already dead and doesn't

know it yet the figs aren't coming because the trees death and the trees trying to stay alive he released it and said it's okay go because they said when they passed by again the apostles were freaked they go the tree that Jesus cursed shriveled and died and that's what freaked him out when they came back a day later or whatever it was the things dead they're like note to self do not take off his guy Wow that's all he has to do is look at you bad you're like you know and that's not

what happened imagine that think of the beauty took paint take this story and flip it and think of the beauty of this someone saying you know to your relationship to the fig tree to your job I can see this is already gone and we'll all be better off if we allow us to pick the fruit back to the fruit tree story let bird in the wood you see let it go that's the whole point he speaks the words saying let go and if you were you know clinging to life and it's better for you to go no no no I want to live I still wanna live but you're really

sometimes the body's too far gone start taking an assessment of life guys or they used to call it get your house in order you know instead of but-but-but-but if you're gonna go die well spend your time letting go of what you don't need to hang on to spend your time saying thank yous to people spend your spend your time making amends if you need to make amends that's the perfection and we the reason not everybody can hear what I'm sayin for example today or anybody's speaking like this is because of the resistance we

have to that very idea and that thing that they're doing is called control I know better I want the fig tree back I want I want and what you do is you learn the the adage you change what you can and you accept what you can't sometimes the body's too far gone sometimes you're a hundred and one sizing you want to be a one let's start with just being a hundred and one and then let's talk about maybe maybe you'll change your lifestyle and become not you know a size 90 I'm just making up

numbers right to exaggerate but become an IM gonna be really happy with that and Val I'm not going anywhere else above this now this is my new self and then let it become another new self don't give yourself such unrealistic goals that you know what's going to happen if you don't reach the goals you're gonna punish yourself again I know my next relationship has to be absolutely perfect too much tension man and any healthy person if you told them that would say that wouldn't be me so imagine guys let's just you know

retiring all this retiring people from the pressure you know everything starts to fall away process is easier when we learn acceptance but to human beings who are kind of messy in the mind human beings think acceptance means failure and it doesn't it means peace think about the word acceptance which I'm saying is a major thing to accomplish if you want to learn what gratitude is all about if you haven't learned to accept something you can hardly give thanks for it acceptance the power of acceptance and

then the power of gratitude and when we learn to take an assessment of our life it's easier which is a responsible behavior it's easier to learn what to accept what to give thanks for and what to let pass away when you don't want to let that thing pass away here I understand it it's it's fear you know it's it's control freak ISM is all it is it's my fear I have to get this fixed I have to get this right I can't let it go what do you mean you can't let it go I can't but it's already gone but I can't be gone but it is and we start to sound

kind of disturbed when we still want something back that is clearly gone but the human mind gonna say that's failure and it isn't and if it is if you think something's still left there change what you can I didn't want my relationship to end but it did end but but I think that's wrong it could work I need them to come back they have restraining orders on you they're probably not coming back but they would if only they read my next letter you know I send a five a day that's where you have a restraining order you know there's a point where you have to

stop and just say this I'm obsessing when you try to fix something that isn't you're obsessing when you're trying to resuscitate a dead relationship and you're still trying to breathe life into it and and dirt you know remove sorry man okay when the rigor mortis sets in to that relationship it's gone none you know let it go captain Scotty try one just one more time to get the relationship back captain I think it's over Spock then the doctor damn it Spock don't you have feelings he's in

love again so so another way to say all this and I'm looking for one I was looking for him but it's gone so I have to accept that thank you for being here namaste now must go anyway so one another way of saying all this is it's it's called patching leaks do you understand that when I'm wishing this relationship weren't over and it is I now have an energetic leak and where's that leak going let's see you know if if you have a water leak in your house and it's flooding your house that's actually not a good thing and the effects of it are

not going to be good when you have leaks in in acupuncture when you want to consciously choose to take energy from one Meridian and literally drain it to a different Meridian which is a productive way to move energy from one thing to another right that works when you have an energy trying to move somewhere and it leaks out into a relationship that doesn't exist it's only a leak that is not a channeled energy and it's gonna drain you and whether it's today or tomorrow or 10 years from now you won't know why you're lacking energy vitality

youth inspiration creativity even you know the energy to be alive you know you've become sicker and you don't even know it's related to an ongoing tendency and pattern to have too many leaks so and I've done talks just on that concept of leaks you can you know get him on the in the DVDs or online or wherever but just on the idea of leaks so every time I say I wish this hadn't happened you've actually created another hose another leak into wishing something hadn't but it did where's that energy going not to another Meridian

it's only going out and being lost I wish I hadn't done this but you did and now another leak but there's other kinds you know my promises that I don't keep or actually leaks my agreements that I do not keep are actually leaks my vows are actually leaks some of us can afford none of us should have leaks but we all do but we shouldn't have leaks but some of us can afford them more than others some of us are filled enough with consistent inspiration and accomplishment we fill up and then there's a little bit of a leak but we

don't notice it and if you're building a pond that would be like saying sometimes the the Sun or the heat of the day drains the water a little from the pond right but there's a refill mechanism and it refills when you have a pond sometimes but if you don't have a refill mechanism which we'll call connection with God and connection with a healthy self the pond water is only going down never back up you can hope for a rain once in a while but the ponds leaking draining from just from the weather but then what's worse is if the rubber laman

in the bottom of a custom pond has holes in it you have problems no I don't I just refill it every day well as long as you can afford the water and you have the time you have nothing else to do to sit there and keep refilling it that's like saying lose your relationship I'll just get another one every day you're not really fixing the problem you have leaks any agreements you don't keep anything but anything even when you say I wish it weren't happening I wish it hadn't happened I wish this were happening instead those are all

energetic leaks and they take their toll I would say to you I would bet that most human beings suffer from illnesses and energy problems and so forth more often from leaks than from dietary issues leaks but nobody sees it so they don't call it instead they say I just need to stop drinking caffeine your leaks are the problem far greater far more often and the health issues from diet but again but nobody sees them so let's start becoming more awake of we're human beings let's start becoming aware of what's happening you know leaks well

what are your leaks take an inventory do you have promises you haven't kept make amends for that do you have agreements you've made not keeping them may commence patch the leaks how gratitude is one of the tools to patch leaks because gratitude means oh look a leak like a relationship that wasn't working really well I see it I own it and I patch it through love and forgiveness okay and that's it now the relationship may not be there the next day when I patch that leak but by patching the leak I don't Phil is

devastated what's devastating is when you have a relationship that ends and it's still leaking and nobody wants to recognize that there's a problem and it just keeps draining you don't let the relationships drain you anymore it's not healthy but it's not sane and what's more it's not God's will never in the history of mankind could a soul say they did ever look to the heavens and said god I'm quite miserable and everything is going wrong in my life is this your will and God said absolutely not only has it

never happened I'm saying to you it's not even possible that means when that stuff is happening something is happening that is contrary to the greatest nature of all God's will so patch the leaks recognize where are you leaking where are you wishing for things that aren't there or wishing they weren't you know and so that are there where am i misdirected in my thoughts I'm going to read a quote and then I'm going to come towards a close do remember that practicing gratitude brings closure to those leaks because I

got it is what gratitude isn't just thanking gratitude says to the universe I got it I go and hand you something oh you need a tissue here's a tissue usually the oh thank you why cuz they got it the tissue the universe works that way when you say thank you the universe says got it note to self being universe you're ready to go to another level yes I am thank you that's all it means it's fantastic and when you say got the point got the message got the lesson of the relationship thank you the universe goes good for you

let's take you into a higher level of relationship now when you say I don't understand I don't get why don't they come back and so on and so on I wish this I wish that the universe can't bring closure to it because no gratitude then you're leaking it's not the will of the universe that we leak but we do it gratitude starts to bring it to a close related to gratitude of Course in Miracles says gratitude goes hand in hand with love and where one is the other must be found for gratitude is but an aspect of the love which the source

of all which is from the source of all creation another quote God gives thanks to you his children for being what you are I love that idea how often do we imagine God's gratitude for us I mean I'm talking about gratitude grab God's perfect love for us I love what you are I accept and love you for what you are I don't wish you were something else see it's all the same I asked of us to do for ourselves God already practices it I love you always you can even make believe you're something else and I'm

still gonna love you as you truly are we'll start with what is and that's the play God can say why don't we do like Michael said why don't we start with what is the difference is where God sees what is is wholeness and love and joy and peace so it's loving that we because we created all kinds of other issues have to start from a little different place and get back to sanity God thanks you for who you are for being what you are your gratitude to is one and is one with God's gratitude to you so it's a symbiotic thing our

love and appreciation to God and then to imagine God's also extending the same gratitude for us not for the weirdness as we make up but for the light the truth of who we are so one of the things that that to me as beautiful as this concept the gratitude you feel on earth will become the experience you have of heaven the gratitude you can feel on earth becomes the heaven you will one day experience you don't escape the earth and get to heaven with all kinds of regrets and remorse --is and wishing's it's the perfect time of the

year to learn there are a couple of relationships that are already dead you know what a bummer I wish that work but it is that way isn't it can you tell sense it yeah what if I'm not sure then ask them because corpses don't answer so when you say hey is there anything left in this relationship if they can answer with some beauty in their answer there might be some life left if I say to you as a partner or a relationship a daughter or son a parent things seem really challenging you don't say you know I would like to talk to you about

our relationship you're the problem what you do what you do even if you'd like to say that what you need to do is start with there's some challenges and I'm not sure what to do with these would you like to join me in working on this bottom line the Corp says no and then let it pass away if there's life left in that body of a healthy person or an alive person says yes join me it might be challenging but you want to join me sure okay let's go and you work on that relationship that's how you can know whether there's

life in it is the answer you get from the corpse when you talk to it I'm not saying people are you know it's a metaphor to that job if only if only if only what but at the job it might work out but you said everyday you don't like it you don't like going yeah but yeah but what let's go ahead and play it out let's ask the job if it's dead or alive what would help you decide that well I've not received a raise yet how long you been there 48 years then it's time to say listen boss I'm just curious is there a possibility of a raise no not

really okay thanks and you know the answer it's dead your hope whatever you hope for is dead it's not gonna happen human beings don't want to ask intelligent inspired questions because they don't want the answer that's gonna come it's time for a different job it's time to let go of that relationship that's what's happening we're secretly trying to control everything so we won't accept well practice acceptance so lastly think about this here's a question for

everybody sort of ask yourself if you come into a lot of money what are you gonna do with it here's an example I'm gonna buy a bigger house a new car a boat you know what else you're gonna do with it I'm gonna buy this I'm gonna buy more of and more of and more of here's my opinion if you come into a lot of money or have a lot of money and you just keep buying more stuff with it and you die the next day you have nothing sounds strong but just try to hear me you have nothing why because there is no one when you died grateful for anything

you've done the lack of gratitude means life is not worth living if all you did was have money and bought new stuff and you died you are not doing because there's no one giving thanks for your existence Oh Michael was a great guy yeah you had a lot of cars and boats did he ever do anything for you no but but I saw his boats that was amazing is that pretty much what he did for you yeah kind of that's it huh then let's accept that that wasn't the highest life that person could have had or myself if it's me you know you could have done

more now on the on the opposite if you have a large quantity manikanta to come into a large quantity of money or whatever the gift might be and you use it to change lives the opposites true you have everything if you die the next day you're already fixed you're already set and why because people are grateful for your existence do not expect a heaven a special heaven for people that are disliked by everybody listen nobody like you and you never gave to anybody but we have a special heaven for you it doesn't work I'm saying heaven is going

to be is proportionate think about this to how much people are grateful for your existence now what have you done while you were here did you make anyone smile did you give anyone hope did you share your gifts you had a beautiful smile that just lit up a room but you never smiled believe it or not that's negligent according to Buddha who said when you have gifts use them use them to bring people to God not literally through preaching but through your your presence so what have you done what have you been about did you make a

difference in people's lives so think about that and share that in your own way if you have websites or you know Facebook pages post it somewhere in your own words if you like ask people what if heaven is made up of the quantity and quality of gratitude people feel for your exist now how's that look for you and hopefully those of us who didn't do so well in that test you would do what start with acceptance even if the acceptance oh now I can start changing it if I go oh I wish I had lived differently your what you didn't hear today's talk I'm saying start with Eve

even if I have done lots of good it's still good for me to take an inventory and say could I do more not in an obsessive way must do more it's more like I can do more this will be great what else can I do that'd be great just the abundance comes from our ability to give in our course yesterday I remember somewhere along the line we read a quote a quote of Christ consciousness when you're struggling with lack and limitation in your life especially financial but anything he says the answer mainly start giving more

well no that doesn't make sense what kind of spiritual teacher are you Jesus did you not understand this I said I don't have enough I need more oh they give more you're not hearing me you know but it's the truth you break open the energy that's stuck the head tells you to have more I need to give more so start giving it to me and Spirit says no when you're stuck somehow even if it's karmically and you give you've cleared the Karma anyway and now you're going to receive that's not the way humans hear it and it's the same heaven itself made

up from the things you have given just give however don't look for that it's always large grandiose ways don't say if ever I win the lottery then I'll start giving it's more impressive you give from the heart and it's more impressive when you say even if I have little I still know how to give and I learned this I don't even know how or when it just all along the way just picked it up more and more and I'm sure I slip at times but like if I go to a store and whatever the story is and I go oh okay wanted one of those

pick it up and I hear somebody go oh what I've been wanting one of those night drove all this way a night they said they had some it's the last one jurors and people oh no no no I'm like listen in my mind you need this more than me right now how can I keep it from you it doesn't make any sense there'll be another one even if I actually wanted that thing it's often now there's a there's a line here if I need that thing right now because it involves inflating the tire on my car that I now won't get home if I give it

to him I might be harmed you see what I'm saying that's called a rescuer who would go and give them that thing that you actually believe you need right now I'm not saying give more than you can I am saying more often give and you can you know you can't just check in I'll close with a story on that one time you know my children they had to learn all kinds of things with me as their father I mean it was must have been weird but they would like to have had a much more normal life you know when you want

something you know you know things just go a certain way well one time I said guys you know they're little or right and I said let's go to the mall and way to get you guys we're gonna get some Cinnabon Oh daddy we all get in the car and their kids are all excited and they dig being with me and I dig me would go to the mall and we get to the Cinnabon store then we get there just in time and you know stores you know there and we're in line and you know here in June we get up there and they go there's only one left

and the kids are like oh and I said well it's okay we'll split it then from behind me oh this mom were their kid I'm sorry honey you know I wanted to stand about I'm sorry they ran out I look at my kids they're like we know fine give him the Cinnabon so Mike nice job guys you know it's less painful than last time so so great you know we're gonna give them and we gave them the Cinnabon you know and the person that the counters are you sure yes so my kids and I just walked around

the stores closing you know the Bologna you know altered hey alternative to having a Cinnabon let's just let's walk and look at the stores closing nothing opened well that was fun wasn't it we give thanks for this time together now let's go ahead and leave them all we go to the mall we at the exit of the mall the door is opening somebody walks by and we open the door and I turned back to hold the door for them and it's the Cinnabon manager who's walking by with a bag in it a box of Cinnabon and they go are you the guy who gave away that last

Cinnabon I said yeah she goes oh I know already I had already packed some up thinking we were done for the day here's a whole box of them you know my kids are like that's weird you know you may not you may not have the Cinnabons at the end of the day give thanks anyway give thanks anyway knowing it's impossible for us to unlock the vaults you know and not have something whatever it's impossible to to practice gratitude and acceptance and not see miracles come from it let go of the leaves let him die but I wish I know what I'm sorry you

know it's ok you want me to help you rake them up you know I'll help you see I'll help you let's rake them up how we can even make them for compost for next year's garden something constructive acceptance gratitude you had some help somebody helped you pick up the leaves today that's a positive give thanks for what you learned from the experience even though it's hard you know the leaves have died relationship ended it's a bummer set what did I learn from that I wonder give thanks and you'll find you're not grieving as deeply and as

long when you've given life to it by giving thanks to it not giving life to it by resuscitating it but by giving life to it through gratitude and if someone passes away in your life that you'd rather not you're actually going to give them larger wings to fly on the other side when you say thank you to things that they have brought a value to you instead of I wish you weren't gone I wish you were there like you're clipping my wings man you know yeah I know you're sad but if you really love

me give thanks for anything I brought to you and the big wings freedom let's take a few minutes to Center together setting aside the stuff of life as always is there anything you'd like to change in your life anything you'd like to improve or shift or add to your life before you do let's take a half a minute breathing and accepting what is even if you're squirming with that idea don't like it wish it weren't so breathe and accept it for just a minute it cannot harm us the acceptance of what is the tree fell over the car stopped

working you didn't get that job you wanted acceptance wishing it were different will actually drain your energy and give you less guidance and inspiration to create the right job start with acceptance breathing acceptance and then gratitude for whatever you're wanting to shift in your life start with this if there was anything positive about it just if there were take a moment and give thanks whether it was the job didn't go well but I'm grateful that I did meet a couple of people that were wonderful the job didn't last but

I'm grateful I got some skills that I can take with me we're not minimizing or denying to the contrary we're just recognizing the value in giving thanks and besides the obvious things like positives even if there were negatives what did you learn from that just make sure you're doing both sides of the coin give thanks for things that were nice youghurt earned and gained out of that or whatever positives obvious positives I was glad to have been employed for a number of years I was glad I had great pay even if I didn't like the job I'm

grateful for the great pay maybe that's funding me for the next stage of my life find what is truly positive but also take a moment the things that seemed negative right now turn them by not denying them or minimizing the negatives but by saying what can I learn or what have I learned from that that gives it value and then a positive and then you give thanks for it because you've converted it to something of value nice and let's close with this try to just imagine if you've given thanks and

you did the acceptance of the ending of something gave thanks for the positives gave thanks for what you learned turning negatives into positives there's this beautiful buoyant energy gratitude now feel it in your heart and try to imagine how the leaks being patched now how this might become recycled as something new for you if that energy that was leaking is recycled how does it become something positive for you inspirations is it maybe it's gonna be a new song you don't have to control it

but I'm saying just marvel in it maybe it's a new song a new poem new friendships greater prosperity better health if you've done the work it's not possible for the energy to not recycle into something wonderful that's why you can give thanks in advance for a miracle coming because it's predictable its nature its law you've done your work it'll come back now and so it is nice job