Word of the Week - 72

Words of the Week:  GRACE AND GRATITUDE

Today is Day 8 of a free, on-line meditation program from Oprah Winfrey and Deepak Chopra, the theme of which is "Manifesting Grace Through Gratitude."  This is the second free course of theirs in which I've participated.  I can't explain why there was any gap between programs.  I will chalk it up to my tendency to wander off.

Here is the link that is sent to participants.  Even though the first days of the 21-day program are no longer available (though they may be found through the purchase of the course), there is still an enormous benefit to be gained from the remaining meditations.  You will need to register if you want to take part.  I hope that information is easy to find.  On Sunday I had difficulty connecting to the page, sent a FB message about my difficulty and received an almost immediate response with ideas for solutions.  Excellent customer service for any sort of program, especially one that is free.

These Seven Myths of Meditation may help to assure you, as they did me, that imperfection of practice is no obstacle to meditating.  In each of the sessions, led by Chopra with a mantra to repeat as a means of focusing, I have found an almost instant stilling of the chattering mind and a sense of what I assume to be the grace of which he and partner Oprah Winfrey speak.  That the road to this enlightened space is through gratitude makes it a good match for me.  I have so much for which to be thankful and my days include conscious expression of gratitude for all things, to the best of my ability.

In discussing the Seven Myths, Chopra speaks of working with a trained teacher to learn the practice of meditation, something which had me believing I was doing it wrong (!) as I had only the teachings of CDs and books before finding these courses.  I know people who have nearly life-long meditation practices which seem to ask more of them than I can give, being unable to sit in uncomfortable positions as my legs no longer bend that way, yet to find the quiet mind and optimism that I have here seems to tell me, as with so many things, we start where we are with what we have and do the best we can.  Chopra is an excellent guide and teacher.

Unless one has already developed a rare sense of peace and stillness, the world is too much with us most of the time.  In these roughly 20-minute sessions I become unknotted, calmed and restored, as in made more whole again.  There is nothing to sell here, only a gift to bestow.  In this practice or another which better suits your needs, meditation offers a respite from overload and my own tendency at times to become a bit wound up, to forget what I know and lapse into jabbering.  It is lovely not to be jabbering, either out loud or in my own head.  Surely that is grace.

Street Team Challenge #22 - I'd Like to Thank...

Imagine yourself as one whose name is read when they open the envelope during some Hollywood awards show. You have mere seconds before the orchestra plays you off stage. How could that possibly be enough time to thank everyone who has helped you reach this moment? Be prepared. Start your list.

Where are you today - in your creative, spiritual, financial, personal, professional or any other version of your life? Where might you be were it not for all the love, teaching, effort, faith, trust, friendship, kindness or reckless enthusiasm that has been poured into you over the years? Who stood behind each of those blessings, large or small? For today, we can think our gratitude. We can reach back for the names and the uplifting acts. We can move out of our minds and into our hearts, clear that our success, our very survival, is the result of so many people who extended themselves for us in ways that were nothing less than the answers to prayers.

For today, give yourself the gift of remembering. Be present in the moments that shaped you and gave you courage, that taught you to believe in yourself. See the faces, hear the voices, recall the words. For today, simply allow the experience of goodness to be replayed. Sit in the knowledge that we are here with, for and because of each other. We can work on the speech tomorrow.