Daily Gratitude: I definitely believe everything is a miracle! It’s all in how you look at things. You can make your own determination as to whether you think something is a miracle or not. It may take some creative thinking and thinking way beyond your immediate sight. Something that seems to be wrong for you may end up helping someone a thousand miles away and who’s in a pinch. We just can’t wait to see that before we declare something a miracle. Believing it is a miracle for someone is what’s required. Catherine Ponder (a great metaphysical minister) always would say “I declare it good!” No matter how anything looked. Don’t feel that you have to see “it” to believe it. The great authors like Wayne Dyer and Emmet Fox tell us that we will see it when we believe it! You don’t have to have the evidence, just the faith!

Daily Gratitude: It seems we’ve lost sight of this. Instead of having each other’s backs, we’re at each other’s backs. We must always remember, though, that we are a tribal species and we are made and programmed to work together. Can you find just one or two other people in your life and work together with them for a short bit. They may not hold all the same ideas you have but if they are people you want to hang around with, then they have some qualities you admire and want to cultivate. Can you and they make a pact to work together on something simple, or at least not controversial? Since politics is the big triggering and dividing topic nowadays what can you bond over that has nothing to do with politics? Make it something you both can actually do something about – maybe it’s helping the unhoused people in your area, or working at a food pantry? Anything in service to others. Focus on what you can do, not the hopeless feelings that accompany the things you have no control over. That way you can actually make a difference and at the same time strengthen the bond and companionship you are fostering. There are many things you have in common. Why not concentrate on those things you can actually influence? You’ll feel better and so will the people you’re working with

Daily Gratitude: My favorite photos are those which have reflections. For some reason they pull me in. Perhaps that’s a reflection (pun intended) on where I am at mentally and emotionally in my life. We often see our thoughts (the mental part) reflected in our actions and emotions. And that’s a good thing. If the water (the usual means by which things are reflected) is still and smooth, there’s a greater likelihood that the reflection will be an accurate one. If, however, there are some – or even just one- ripples on the surface of the water, the reflection will be distorted. The question is how do we know when the surface is rippled? I think we know by the turbulence we’re either experiencing in life’s daily events or in our feelings (such as feeling unsettled or anxious). Those would be indications to me. Then I would enter within (and often that’s a scary proposition) and see if I can figure out what’s the deeper cause of all the turmoil. I have a part (IFS) that wants me to take a nap and causes me to be so sleepy I can’t resist. I am learning that this is a powerful part that doesn’t want me to have to feel and is very afraid that I will start feeling more. But it’s funny. Whenever I try to nap, another part takes over – the tennis player. This part is just hitting balls lobbed to it by the ball machine. It simply keeps tossing thought after thought over the net. This prevents me from sleeping. But guess what, it also prevents me from feeling because I feel like I’m at Wimbledon watching the ball go back and forth- once again not allowing me the time to feel anything. I think that I have to reassure these parts that I have grown (remember they are usually developed when we are young) and can handle feeling things. All this was a verbose way of letting you know that if the waters aren’t still and are showing a less than sharp reflection, it’s time to go within (using whatever method works for you. For me it’s IFS) and see what’s going on inside. Yes someone may have thrown a stone into the water to make it rippled but that stone and that person are part of your experience and they are trying to tell you something too. You just need to listen more.