Attitude of Gratitude

When I think of gratitude, I think of blessings - blessings in the basic things of everyday life, many of which we tend to take for granted unless we make a concerted effort to acknowledge them and to find the gift that lies within each one. Each time I pray, I begin the prayer with a ‘thank you’ to God for things which I see as blessings in my life on that day. This helps me to remember what is most important, and by expressing gratitude to my creator, acknowledging first the blessings, this cultivates a positive attitude in me which stays with me throughout the day.

Gratitude also makes me think of the unexpected blessings concealed in some of our most difficult trials. Although I don't believe God causes hurtful things to happen to us, I do believe God is right there with us in our darkest hour loving us through our pain and anguish. We receive Divine Love through the people who are there to offer hugs, comfort, understanding, prayers and assistance when needed. Opportunities to find healing solutions in the midst of our deepest hurt are also available if we are open to seeing them. And it is in that healing we may discover surprising ways in which we can use our experience to help others.

These are just a few of the blessings concealed within the challenges we face. The beautiful thing about it is that whether we see the blessings or not is our choice. God has given US the power to determine our own experience! If we don't get that, and we spend our lives passively waiting and expecting someone else or God to change our circumstances so that we can feel better, we miss the point, and we miss the gift - the gift of choosing… choosing gratitude for the experience because we know the experience will bless us with greater wisdom and Love!

If we view life’s challenges as struggles which we cannot overcome, we will spend the majority of our time wallowing in self-pity and misery and we will have nothing to give to others, much less to ourselves. But when we view life’s inevitable challenges as opportunities for growth and learning, we are living in an attitude of gratitude and will have much to share with others from our experience and our positive outlook. The key is to remember that everyone faces challenges in their lives, even those who appear to have it all and who seem to always be happy. Chances are, they have made the choice to perceive their challenges as gifts… blessings that can be used for good.

Something else that comes to mind when I think of gratitude is Michael’s example of how he used his gifts to their full potential and how he always expressed sincere gratitude for the gifts he was given. We are all given special gifts and talents which are bestowed upon each of us by the creator. We have a responsibility to nurture those gifts, using them to make the most of our lives and to share them with others. Expressing humble gratitude for our gifts and creating a better world by giving from the abundance which we have been given is, I believe, what we are all called to do.

Finally, when I think of gratitude, I think of the Gift of Michael Joseph Jackson. He is a beautiful and powerful Divine Gift to this world! One of the sentiments I have heard expressed so often by fans and admirers is gratitude for having lived on this earth while he was here. I can’t say it enough how extremely grateful I am for the blessing of being here during his lifetime. I thank God for him every single day! Maya Angelou wrote a beautiful poem which was read by Queen Latifa at Michael’s memorial service on July 7, 2009, and which expresses so aptly how Michael belonged to the world. Collectively, as painful as his physical loss to this world has been, the world will be forever grateful that we had him!


WE HAD HIM

Beloveds, now we know that we know nothing,
now that our bright and shining star can slip away
from our fingertips like a puff of summer wind.

Without notice, our dear love
can escape our doting embrace.
Sing our songs among the stars
and walk our dances across the face of the moon.

In the instant that Michael is gone,
we know nothing.
No clocks can tell time.
No oceans can rush our tides
with the abrupt absence of our treasure.

Though we are many,
each of us is achingly alone,
piercingly alone.

Only when we confess our confusion
can we remember
that he was a gift to us
and we did have him.

He came to us from the creator,
trailing creativity in abundance.

Despite the anguish,
his life was sheathed in mother love,
family love,
and survived and did more than that.

He thrived with passion and compassion,
humor and style.
We had him whether we know who he was or did not know,
he was ours and we were his.

We had him,
beautiful, delighting our eyes.
His hat, aslant over his brow,
and took a pose on his toes for all of us.

And we laughed and stomped our feet for him.
We were enchanted with his passion
because he held nothing.
He gave us all he had been given.

Today in Tokyo,
beneath the Eiffel Tower,
in Ghana's Black Star Square.
In Johannesburg and Pittsburgh,
in Birmingham, Alabama, and Birmingham, England
We are missing Michael.

But we do know we had him,
and we are the world.

~Maya Angelou

Let us remember as we face the inevitable pain of the upcoming trial…
"Our pain only has value if we use it to change the world. Otherwise, it's only pointless suffering." (by Diana Foley)

May our suffering not be pointless, and may we continue to use our pain (and Michael's) to change the world!!