Thank You. by Patresa Hartman

On the day before the year turns, I feel wise and strong, sensing divine purpose in where I've been and alight looking forward. The 365 days before become a collection of lessons; the days ahead streak ready acres of limitless possibility. Possibility kicks ass (Many apologies to my mother for using the word "ass" in a public forum.).

I came to YOG late, invited to round out a shifting Gratitude Team. What an opportunity for big soul work! Thank you, Ms. Kat, for inviting me. And thank you, Ms. Barb and Ms. Angie, for welcoming me so warmly. High fives all around.

There are two key things I believe I have learned in this process: 1) Gratitude is a choice; and 2) Gratitude opens you to peace and joy. Peace and joy also kick ass.

I like math and think numbers are chronically underestimated. They are interesting and expose dynamic layers of the universe when tapped. I like that a -5 and a +5 are equal distances from zero; the concept implies that every number contains two parallel frequencies. Likewise, I think of each moment of my life as a point, a distance from zero, and therefore containing equal opportunities for negativity or positivity. With this acknowledgment, I can no longer believe that life is a series of events that happen to me. I can choose: wallow in the negative frequency; or celebrate the positive. I am learning there is joy everywhere -- in every moment -- if I only choose to look.

My friend, Mary, introduced me this year to a mantra inspired by Morrnah Simeona's teachings of an ancient Hawaiian healing system, Ho'oponopono. Simeona taught that we are all connected and therefore all responsible for one another. The external world is a projection of our internal world, and so the more peace we feel, the more peace there will be. (And the more peace there will be, the more peace we will feel.) The mantra, explained in Joe Vitale and Hew Len's Zero Limits, goes like this:

I love you.
Please forgive me.
I'm sorry.
Thank you.

I find it appropriate that the last line is "Thank you." There is a particular openness and peace that is communicated via gratitude. It is acceptance and surrender to something bigger than our immediate understanding. This concept is alive in every spiritual walk. Saying thank you for everything -- the bad and the good -- is an important acknowledgement that we are part of the universe, not separate, that the universe is ultimately good, and it is providing what it must. (I think it works just as well to say "God" instead of "universe.") I feel a lot of my own personal turmoil comes from resistance. There are things in the world I do not like, people I do not like, things about myself I do not like. When I do not accept these elements, I close myself not only to them, but everything else -- including love and joy. When I am closed, I feel isolated and angry, even superior.

Even in times of sadness, when I sense and accept my rightfully small place in the natural world, I feel open and connected. There is peace in this tiny shift, and sadness reconfigures. It hops frequencies and becomes joy.

So for 2009, I wish for you:

to choose joy
to choose peace
to choose gratitude
...in response to all things.

Thank you.

Raring to Go by Nannette Croce

Yesterday should have been a bad day. It was my day to do bookkeeping for my husband’s consulting business and the computer decided not to talk to the printer, or the other way around––whatever they were both in need of major counseling, which I left to my husband, the computer whisperer. For my part, having nothing to show for five hours of work I decided to take advantage of a break in the clouds and make a dent in the huge pile of mulch, that, every year, sets off a string of rainy days the minute it hits the driveway.

Shovel, shovel, shovel. Roll wheelbarrow. Dump mulch. Rake, rake. Then back to start all over again. It was tiring work. I can’t quite say I enjoyed it. What I did enjoy was having the energy to do it.

I don’t like quitting a job until it’s done or I’ve reached a reasonable stopping point, but when I hit 50 my energy level suddenly crashed. Sleep issues caused by menopause and stresses left me lethargic. Studies indicate, and I verified, sleep deprivation leads to carb cravings. Never one to snack before that, every hour on the hour now found me munching on hard pretzels, crackers or potato chips. The extra pounds made me more lethargic. A job that would have taken me hours, now took days. Was this the beginning of the rest of my life?

Apparently not. It’s over now. I manage to sleep a good eight hours most nights, and when the sleep came, the cravings left along with the extra pounds.

I’m exhausted from my day’s work, but I managed to mulch along the entire front of the house before quitting. A job well done and I’m thrilled I had the energy to do it.