Yesterday morning I awoke with thoughts of all the people on my prayer list. Many of them are dealing with illness, death of a loved one, broken relationships and loss in a variety of forms. As I reflected on all of those people and what they face—and on what I've been hearing lately on the news—I could feel my emotions sink. Sadness and grief set in.
So I did what I often write about in these blogs: I reached into my heart for gratitude. Tricky or impossible as it sometimes seems, one really can hold all those things at one time—all the cares and concerns of family, friends and self together with gratitude for all life's blessings.
A spiritual director once told me, "Sonia, you can carry those people in your heart without carrying their concerns and issues on your back." At the time, I wondered how on earth one did that. It's not always easy. It's all about that "both/and" kind of thinking rather than the "either/or" kind. And it is possible.
So if you have a lot weighing you down these days, too, try to find a way to also hold the gratitude for the good things you have. And please contact me if you'd like to talk about this—for it's a journey about which I'm still learning, too! Perhaps we can make discoveries together.
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