Gratitude

Gratitude
John Cali

Over the years, Joseph has spoken often about gratitude, and the wonders it can create in our lives. In the USA this week we celebrate a day called Thanksgiving. A day of giving thanks for all the blessings in our lives. A day for expressing gratitude.

Joseph and I wrote this newsletter many years ago. But it’s never lost its timeliness, especially at this season of the year. And especially at this time in our human and planetary evolution.

I wish you all a most blessed and happy Thanksgiving, whether you’re in the USA or another country. We all have much to be thankful for, even in the world’s current state of affairs. So let us focus on all the good in our lives, especially during this holiday season.

Chief Joseph

There are many souls incarnated on the earth plane who appear to be struggling with attracting into their lives the barest, most basic necessities of physical survival. Abundance on all, or at least many, levels seems to elude them. And many of these souls often wonder why. Why them? Why is life such a struggle? Why can they not have more in their lives, more joy, more peace, more love, more money? More of all forms of abundance?

Now you've heard it said you create your own reality. And this is true. All of you create your own realities, your own experiences, every aspect of your experiences on the earth plane. However, even in knowing that, you may find little comfort or solace.

And yet it does not have to be this way. Abundance, in all forms, is your birthright as a child of the Goddess, the God. You are not only a child of the God/Goddess. You are the God/Goddess. You are one with God. And so this brings us back to the question of why so many, even among you, the lightworkers, are living lives of struggle.

You will hear, have already heard, voices telling you your “lot in life” is “God's will.” Well, that's true. The only problem is most of those uttering these words, or something similar, do not realize they are God! They are the God, the Goddess who has willed their own struggles, their lot in life. Simply being aware of, and accepting, that reality is very freeing. After all, the truth shall set you free.

We are in no way advocating you “beat up” on yourself if you are struggling with any aspect of your life. And, of course, it is true your higher self, your soul, can and will use whatever circumstances and conditions you are experiencing at the human level as the “raw material,” if you will, to produce a higher good for you. Another way of saying that is: Whatever is happening in your life can and will ultimately result in your highest good.

However, your highest good does not have to come through pain and struggle. It can come to you joyfully and easily. If you are not experiencing the abundance you want in your lives, it is because you are literally pushing it away from yourselves. After all, your natural state, your birthright, is abundance. You have always been provided for, even in the midst of your self-created struggles, though perhaps not in exactly the luxurious style to which you would love to become accustomed! But you have always been taken care of.

Think about that for a moment. Think about what you consider the worst experience of your life. Even in the midst of that experience, were you not provided for? Was there not someone “watching over” you? You have never been totally destitute, totally without resources, without recourse. You are, after all, divine beings, albeit in human form for a time. But still, you are Gods and Goddesses. And, as such, you have power, great power, divine power, absolute power to do, to create, to be anything you wish.

This is the part of your calendar year when some of your societies on the earth plane set aside a time, a day, dedicated to giving thanks. “Thanksgiving,” you’ve named it in the country you call the United States.

This is a good thing. The idea to set aside a time of thanks-giving was indeed a divinely inspired one. And there is a firm spiritual foundation underlying, if you will, the “giving of thanks.” It is what you might call a universal law. We shall call it, for today's discussion, the Law of Gratitude.

Another law of the Universe goes something like this: You get what you focus your time and energy on. It’s called the Law of Attraction. If you focus mostly on lack and limitation, those are what you experience in your life. If you focus mostly on abundance and prosperity, you will, you must, experience those in your life. It's the law! And it's your choice. You get to choose whether to use the laws of the Universe for or against yourself.

And so, the giving of thanks, the expression of gratitude, is a truly magical tool. A tool you have, literally, at the tip of your tongue. You would be hard-pressed to say there is nothing in your life you can be thankful for.

Sit down and make a list, if that will help you remember all the good things, all the abundance, you have in your life right now. Think about the clothes you wear, the food you eat, the roof you sleep under, the money you have (even though you may want more), the loving and supportive family and friends you are blessed with.

Give thanks for the many blessings you already have in your life, and they will increase. They must increase. It's the law of the Universe.

Make every day of your life Thanksgiving, a day of giving thanks to the Great Spirit, to the Universe, to your guides, teachers, and angels. And also thank your higher self, the one who, after all, helped you (the human “you”) create all the abundance you already have in your lives.

And, by the way, thank the human you too. You are all beings of great wisdom and courage. And we applaud your brave willingness to incarnate at this time in your planet’s history. A tumultuous time in many ways, but also a grand and glorious time to remember who you truly are. Your courage uplifts all, in your physical world and in our non-physical world. Your energy extends to the farthest reaches of the Universe, and uplifts all that is. That is how powerful you are, individually and together.

Giving thanks, expressing heartfelt gratitude, every day of your lives (even if only for a few moments each day) will indeed bring you rich rewards beyond your highest and wildest expectations and dreams.

Copyright © 2004 by Great Western Publishing