DQ 1 Look for hidden blessings in difficult situations. Gratitude is an all-out experience. It’s cheating to be grateful only for the good things that happen and to shun the bad. This isn’t to say that we want bad things to happen to us, just that if we can be grateful for the soul-lessons inherent in the difficulties that befall us, then our souls will be able to grow and mature. Otherwise, we never progress, because we fail to use the hardships that dog us to become more loving, more patient, more present, more kind.
The people whom I admire most in the world say without reservation that the the hardest things they had to face, cancer, the death of a child, a bankruptcy, or job loss, had been their greatest teachers and that they were grateful for the lessons. For me it has been dealing with chronic pain. When I was a senior in college I hurt my back. It was the first time my body ever betrayed me. Until then, I always considered it just a handy container to take my mind where it wanted to go. But suddenly I couldn’t move, and I had to pay attention to it. Eventually I spent over a year in bed.
It’s been twenty years since then, and my back continues to be one of my greatest teachers. I’ve learned a lot about patience (a hard lesson for me!) and impermanence (just because it hurts like hell today doesn’t mean it will tomorrow). I’ve learned the value of physical discipline (“No time to do those boring back exercises?” my body says. “I’ll show you!”) I’ve learned that I can’t push myself beyond limits that often I still don’t recognize until after I’ve exceeded them. That even doing everything “right” is no guarantee I’ll be free from pain. I’ve learned to let go of my wanting it to be better, and I’ve learned about how much I still exist even if I am able to do absolutely nothing. Now, in theory, I could have learned these things some other way, and perhaps I might have. But the truth of my life is that I have learned them through chronic pain – and I am grateful for the lessons, if not for the pain.
Right now, write down the hardest or most terrible thing that ever happened to you (that you are comfortable sharing with us). Can you see the gift/s that it brought? Metaphysical teacher Daniel T. Peralta suggest that when you are suffering from some difficulty whose blessing is invisible to you, you say the following prayer: “I am willing to see the gift in the experience. May the lessons be revealed to me, and may I become stronger and clearer.”
DQ #2 (Ch. 4, same as last week) Share one good decision you made in your life this week. Write a paragraph, with your dilemma, your decision, and the consequences of that decision. Shifting the emphasis to what you do right enhances self esteem. Sometimes my decisions involve doing, sometimes they are thought decisions, like if I notice jealous or other negative thoughts, and I replace those thoughts with positive ones. It doesn’t have to be a momentous decision like “I enrolled at college”. It is far more likely to be a small one, like I didn’t hit the snooze button this am. And besides, you get to decide the momentousness of your decisions. The first time I made the choice to not eat the chocolate chip cookies in the breakroom was a truly momentous decision for me. Rather than spending my day thinking about eating more chocolate chip cookies, I felt stronger and stronger and no cravings!! My day turned out to be much better with no cookies in my tummy! These little things can make big days! This question will be the same every week
please read carefully and answer both question thank you help.
