Week 1, Day 1: Gratitude

From Every Day, Holy Day:

The Hebrew Term for Gratitude translates as "recognizing the good." Myriad benefits come to us everyday, but most of us find it easy to overlook them and instead focus on what we lack.  This trait is an invitation to sensitize yourself to the good and to the gifts that we certain to be present in your life and every moment, even if at that same time there happen to be difficulties.

When Rabbi Menachem Mendel, the Kotzker Rebbe, was ready to consign old shoes to the trash,

he would first wrap them in newspaper to show his gratitude.

PHRASE: Awaken to the good and give thanks.
PRACTICE: Say thank you to every person who does even the slightest thing that is helpful or beneficial to you...

Writing gratitude lists is something that 12 step groups always encourage.  It is absolutely true that I spend the majority of my mental energy focusing on what could or, dare-I-say, should have been; rather on what actual IS.  

I have a wonderful life, an incredible wife -- a fulfilling job, and the opportunity to learn and teach almost daily.  Thinking back to who I was three, four, five years ago -- I could not imagine being exactly where I am today.  And yet, I find it difficult to feel truly satisfied.  I find it difficult to be present to the gifts of the present -- to be fully present at any given moment.    

And we have the gift of the high-holidays.  We find ourselves in aseret yammei t'shuva -- the 10 days of repentance between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, a time quite literally set aside for us to take an accounting of our lives.  To consciously adjust our behavior.  To recognize the wrongs we have committed -- and seek forgiveness from the people we have harmed.  In short -- to do t'shuva to repent and ask others, God, the universe and ourselves for forgiveness so we might live in concert with ourselves.  So that we might overcome the shame of our past misdeeds.  So that we accept who we are so that we can bring our best selves into the world.

At the base of this project, is the need for all of us -- for me -- to recognize the good we have.  To dwell in the land of gratitude of thanks.  For when I make decisions from the place of gratitude, my endeavors flourish, my relationships blossom, and my self-worth grows.  

However, when I choose to focus solely on the shameful or the negative -- then the entire world becomes a little darker, a little less joyful, and it becomes harder to fully be present at any given moment.  

I pray for the recognition of the good in this world -- specifically in my little corner of it. Appreciation for the good in my life and in this world.