Is Your Life a Life of Gratitude?

A runners’ guide to finding gratitude by focusing on the little things

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Sorry for the rude awakening, but I have news for you.

You are more oblivious to the miracles that are going inside of you and magic that is happening all around you than you think. And your oblivion is keeping you from curating and living a life of immense gratitude.

So, stop leaving gratitude on the table by wading through life aimlessly and please wake up. Wake up from your slumber.

Choose to make today your most grateful day yet. For there’s power — and I mean real, raw, and life-changing power — in being cognizant of and appreciating the little things. The things others take for granted.

* * *

If you are the adventurous type, go for a run. If you aren’t, go for a run still.

And while you’re at it, look around. But most importantly, look within. Take a moment. Be aware. Not just any kind of aware but be an awfully specific kind of aware.

Be consciously aware.

And notice things. Consciously notice things. Things, happenings, doings — I don’t care what you call them, but notice them. Things like the gift of movement, of eyesight, of the beating of your heart, of the air that you breathe, and the reflexes of your own muscles.

Notice how they are functioning without you doing much of anything to make them function? How your heart is beating without you having to think about beating your own heart? How the air is subservient to you so you do not end up in a great panic as to whether there’s going to be any oxygen left the next time you draw your breath?

Notice at least some of these things, and you’d find that there is really no end to the list of splendors that can leave you in a state of awe. You’d discover that there are infinitely many interesting little things yearning for a curious mind or even a probing set of eyes — waiting to reveal themselves, waiting for someone who is truly, deeply aware.

* * *

Aspire to be that person. Scratch that. Be that person. The person who goes about his life in a state of utter bliss. The person who’s carrying with him an undying spark of consciousness.

Because if you look hard enough, you’ll see that there’s beauty radiating in the often-unremarkable sunbeam.

And if you listen intently enough, you’ll find that there’s music emanating from the swaying of the trees, and the chirping of the birds.

And if you concentrate hard enough, you’ll find that there are patterns emerging — discernible pattern s — as the odd cricket stridulates from its great hiding place.

And when you feel like you have run long enough, stop. Finish your run. Walk for a while. Then, and only then, may you sit. Take it in. Take it all in.

Sit still but be still in awareness. And if you can, sit comfortably. And when you are ready, feast on the miracle that is your life. Immerse yourself in it.

And then when you are done, run some more.

* * *

And when tomorrow comes, do it all over again. And choose to make tomorrow your most grateful day yet again.

And keep doing it the next day, the day after, and the day after that until there comes a day where you have exhausted all your next days.

But whatever you do, never run unaware.

Or dare I say, never live unaware?

Advice, Health, Ideas, Inspiration, Life Lessons

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