I spend time preparing for and entering Openings, but seldom do I express my gratitude for them.

Stopping To Reflect

Maybe it is as important to have gratitude for the Openings in our lives as it is to enter them. They show up for us and often are welcome gateways in our journey. An exchange of energy with anything we do is a natural balance. We don’t just receive Openings and end there. With gratitude, we give something back to them. In showing gratitude for Openings, we acknowledge their importance and invite more of them.

Let’s take a moment now to reflect on some of the Openings that have come into our lives, both ones we entered and ones we chose not to enter. What was their nature? Were they welcome or did we shrink from them? What choices did we make? What did they ask of us? Were we smooth or challenged in encountering them? What impact did they have on our journeys?

Reflection and pausing serve us in many ways. They create space for us to recognize the importance of Openings in our lives. They increase our awareness of Openings and their breadth in moving us forward. They also strengthen us and build our confidence in choosing and entering Openings. They center us to be able to handle whatever is here in the present moment and what is to come.

The Power of Gratitude

Gratitude has many benefits. It often brings us to the present moment by seeing what is happening now and being grateful for the good things we encounter. Gratitude brings us happiness and reminds us of the positive things in our lives. It increases our own empathy and generosity towards others. It leads us to optimism and positive emotions. It challenges critical or negative voices within us.

Gratitude also has positive physical and mental effects. Gratitude can reduce stress, improve sleep and increases our energy and vitality. Emily Fletcher, the founder of Ziva, a meditation training site, wrote that gratitude is a ‘natural antidepressant’. The effects of gratitude, when practiced daily, can be almost the same as medications. Gratitude produces a feeling of long-lasting happiness and contentment, the physiological basis of which lies at the neurotransmitter level in our brains.

We can also have gratitude for the Openings that are difficult and challenge us. They are pivotal for moving forward in our journeys. Stasis takes us nowhere. Challenges present opportunities to learn. They strengthen us in many ways.  They allow us to grow. They make us wiser for what is to come.  Challenges increase our focus. We have a positive feeling of accomplishment when we get through them.