Years ago, in my early 20’s, I had a yoga instructor (my first!), Cintra, who would say in class “An attitude of gratitude is prayer in action”.
I’ve thought on this for decades now, and come back again and again to the question: What is gratitude? How do I feel about praying?
The very reality of “prayer in action” brings me to a way of praying that I can embrace–being an action-oriented person, to move a prayer into reality though an action I take moves me.
These days, rather than praying for peace, I’m reaching out to people I love, telling them why I’m grateful to have them in my life. I’m committed to creating peace in my relationships–not agreement all the time, but people knowing their value to me and a mutual willingness to BE in relationship with one another even with differences. This feels like peace. It’s like pepper in the mashed potatoes…a little dissonance makes the whole white, blah, mushy experience come alive.
I’m expressing gratitude in my own words–often times inside my head and sometimes out loud for the many, many goodnesses in my life–my family and friends, a home, work I want to do, warm days during a typically cold time of year, long, dark nights and good sleep, my communities of people I love at Yoga, Pure Barre, Hero’s Journey peeps and others, Lulu’s excitement when I come home, opportunities to learn and better myself. I’m deeply grateful for the ways that these fill my days, my heart and my time with aspects of living that bring me more alive every day. In turn, I commit myself to staying engaged where it matters, to speaking what is true for me and being in good relationships with these aspects of my life on a daily basis as a practice.
And you. If you are reading this, I’m grateful for you. As I type, my eyes well up feeling the impact of you on the other end of the screen, taking your precious time to read what I have to say. It’s edgy for me to share my inner workings, thoughts, musings and ways that I live with you. And I’m deeply grateful that you care and have interest. It makes my day when you let me know that something landed for you, or that something I said has helped you in some way. So for you, I am grateful.
How do you move prayer into action? For what and how are you grateful? I do hope you will share.
All my love,