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The Physics of Gratitude
By Keith Varnum
I panic! My 5-year house mortgage has
only three months to go. I just get off the phone with my current
mortgage holder. They can’t simply give me another loan. Company policy
stipulates that I have to apply for a new mortgage. I don’t show nearly
enough income to get a new loan for my house. And my credit has been
ruined by a bad investment.
Paradise About to Be Lost
I love the unique sitting of my house,
cradling the edge of a vast mountain preserve right outside Phoenix.
Each morning I enjoy the morning light illuminating the needles on the
desert saguaros. The sun gives each cactus its own golden aura. At dusk
I watch the shadows of the surrounding peaks creep over the vast desert
plain, as night creatures peek out for their evening reverie. All day I
greet coyotes, roadrunners and jackrabbits from my patio. Hawks, quail
and fox drink from my backyard waterfall.
Surrender to the Inevitable
I resign myself to giving up my little
piece of Heaven on Earth. I let go of the memory of all the electric
gatherings of like-spirited souls that filled my spacious home. For the
next three months, I say goodbye to the views, the hues and the muse
that this setting provided for five exciting years. I thank God for the
joy and love that has filled this space each day. I open to possibility
that I can find another magical hacienda.
Hold Your Horses!
But wait! Hold on! Someone, something,
hears me, feels me, responds to my outpouring of appreciation! A few
days before my 5–year loan expires, I receive a brief form letter from
my mortgage company. The memo announces a new general policy of
extending current mortgages without income qualifying or credit checks.
I call. They say “Sure.” I get to keep my little bit of paradise for as
long as I want!
The Physics of Gratitude
Wow, how’d that happen? I flash on
my daily activities for the previous three months. Every day I fully
enjoyed the divine gift of my home as if it were the last day I would
have it. It dawns on me that my innocent outpouring of deep gratitude
each moment has attracted this extension of my experience. Like
vibration attracts like vibration. By the physics of gratitude, the
house couldn’t go anywhere.
The experience had to stay. My
appreciation in each moment is the magnet, the creator, of my space.
The Power of Gratitude
There is a very simple reason why most
spiritual traditions suggest that when praying we give thanks for what
we already have—rather than ask for we don’t have. This thankful
approach is nothing less than the most effective way to create more of
something you desire in your life.
Cop an Attitude of Gratitude
On average, a person has 60,000
separate thoughts a day. Every thought you have either makes you
stronger or weaker. Thoughts of kindness and gratefulness are
strengthening. Focusing on blame and worry weakens you. If you keep your
creating attention on the outlook that the Universe is plentiful and
providing, you’ll attract abundance and support. If you dwell on the
view that you’re being short-changed and nothing ever goes right, you’ll
experience a world of scarcity and struggle.
Center on what’s right about you and
your life, instead of what’s wrong. See what’s working in your life
rather than what’s messed up. Celebrate what is bountiful, rather than
what is missing.
When you give freely of your
thankfulness, you receive back in kind. When you come from a place of
bountiful giving, you receive plentifulness in return. When you pray
from a place of lack or limitation (for example, expecting something in
return as a pay-off), you receive back the same vibration or quality—a
reflection of lack and limitation. When you pray from a space or energy
of fear (scarcity consciousness), the Universe mirrors that poverty back
to you.
Walk with an Appreciative Heart
What you appreciate in life
appreciates—increases, grows. The more aspects of life you appreciate,
the richer you become inwardly—and, in turn, outwardly, according to the
Law of Spiritual Attraction.
You can use this approach to skillfully
circumvent and outmaneuver the Mind’s attempts to limit you with the
notions of unworthiness and scarcity.
Discover the ancient wisdom of
multiplying what you have with deep appreciation and gratitude.
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