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Weekly Vitamins for the Soul -- February 8,2005
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Yali Shi
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Feb 07, 2005 23:37 PST
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Weekly Vitamins for the Soul -- February 8,2005
Be Thankful
Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life.
It turns what we have into enough, and more. It turns denial into
acceptance, chaos to order, confusion to clarity. It can turn a meal
into a feast, a house into a home, a stranger into a friend. Gratitude
makes sense of our past, brings peace for today, and creates a vision
for tomorrow.
—Melody Beattie
* * *
Gratitude is the inward feeling of kindness received.
Thankfulness is the natural impulse to express that feeling.
Thanksgiving is the following of that impulse.
—Henry Van Dyke (1852-1933)
* * *
be thankful
If you woke up this morning with more health than illness, you are more
blessed than the millions who will not survive this week.
If you have never experienced the danger of battle, the loneliness of
imprisonment, or the pangs of starvation, you are ahead of 900 million
people in the world.
If you have food in the refrigerator, clothes on your back, a roof
overhead and a place to sleep, you are richer than 75% of this world.
If you have money in the bank, in your wallet, and spare change in a
dish someplace, you are among the top 8% of the world’s wealthy.
If you can read this message, you are more blessed than over two billion
people in the world who cannot read at all.
If you hold up your head with a smile on your face and are truly
thankful, you are blessed because the majority can, but most do not.
* * *
How brief is our span of life compared with the time since You created
the universe. How tiny we are compared with the enormity of Your
universe. How trivial are our concerns compared with the complexity of
Your universe. How stupid we are compared with the genius of Your
creation.
Yet during every minute and every second of our lives You are present,
within and around us. You give Your attention to each and every one of
us. Our concerns are Your concerns. And You are infinitely patient with
our stupidity. I thank You with all my heart—knowing that my thanks are
worthless compared to Your greatness.
—St. Fulbert Of Chartres (960-1028)
* * *
How do you view each moment?
Don’t fall into the trap of “waiting.” The present moment is God’s gift
to you: When you’re put on hold, or are stuck in traffic, free your
spirit to give thanks for your life, and for the beauty of creation.
Once, frazzled after a long day of travel, I stood in a hot, crowded
train station and was suddenly struck with wonder that all the people
around me, like myself, had been created with souls and for a purpose.
My irritable restlessness turned to joy.
—Kathleen Norris (Guideposts Online)
* * *
Happy Chinese New Year,
Shi Yali
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