Just be grateful, dude.
What about the past? Maybe I could have changed something, been better, been kinder, maybe…
Be grateful.
Well, yeah, sure, but man, the house I am renting isn’t what it is anymore. I am feeling claustrophobic. My boss is on my ass; I got deadlines to catch and shit a vacation to dispatch.
Be grateful.
“I am the eternal beachcomber, forever gathering driftwood and ideas.”
-Moondog (Louis Thomas Hardin)
I have been feeling really good lately. Why is that? How am I thinking? Positive, calm, not judging my thoughts, more present, empathy, letting things go. Thinking in decades instead of seconds, exercising, hanging with people I enjoy, planning trips, and making money. Learning from my son. Loving my wife.
My wife, my son, and I recently returned from a beach vacation in Mexico. On the way to the airport, I looked down to see three passports in the middle console of the car. That was the first time I realized I was responsible, not just for myself but also for my wife and son.
It might seem very silly, but I was filled with gratitude when I saw those three passports. This is what life is all about, I thought to myself—growing the passport stack and adventuring. Mexico was spent winging, wedding dancing, and wetting our whistle with tequila. The week came and went all too soon, and we were heading back home.
I picked up the car from long-term parking, loaded the family and luggage, and started the drive home. I have felt grateful before, but this time was different. As we were driving home, gratitude overtook my body. I felt lighter, warmer, and peaceful in a sense. I know it sounds so cliche and boring to write this out, but I felt it wash over me. I thought I had it all. I was grateful for my past (my successes, failures, hockey career, and family). I was thankful for whatever god had in store for my future. Yet, most of all, I was grateful for what I had at that moment.
All that material stuff, the striving, that wanting, brings us less and less happiness. It is truly a roller coaster to hell. It is a destination to a desolate field.
I just want to be washed up on a new shore, grateful I am alive, forever collecting driftwood and ideas. I don’t wish to have more THINGS; I want more reasons to be grateful when I wake up.
I want gratitude and presence. This is all we need to seek in life.
Having gratitude amplifies everything in your life.
Being present gives you insights to shape the life you want.
How do you become present?
My notes from The Power of Now:
Get in touch with the energy field within the inner body
Be intensely present
Disidentify with the mind
Surrender to what is
Pay attention to the silence to find god. “God” is the consciousness of the whole, not of the individual. When you are present, there is no past nor future. This is the realm of the timeless. This is the realm of God.
That’s far out, dude.
Gratidude is knowing the sun’ll rise, even if you’re too lazy to watch it.
-Molesy