“There are only two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything is a miracle.” ~Albert Einstein
As we approach Thanksgiving this week, it’s a good time to consider the the value of gratitude in your life and the miracle that is your life. As Fred Rogers of Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood, which ran for 33 years, would always say, “The greatest gift you ever give is your honest self.” In our modern world with lots of noise, this is a good time to take stock in your honest self and be grateful.
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Is life a miracle or not? For instance, did you know?
- The Hubble telescope allows us to look back billions of years into the past. (Alex Morris)
- It takes 225 million years for our Sun to travel round the galaxy. (Alex Morris)
If you simply begin to contemplate the human body, it is amazing to think how it all works on a day-to-day basis for us. For instance, your nose can remember 50,000 different scents. You also have over 100,000 miles of blood vessels in your body. Both amazing facts also have many more outlined by Body Facts. When you review each one, it is amazing to think how our bodies are such well-oiled machines. How does it run daily all on its own?
Let’s go larger. It’s almost like the wonderful Dr. Seuss book Horton Hears a Who where you could imagine that there is a whole other world living on the top of a flower. In reality, is that not true? The Hubble telescope and other NASA technology shows us just how large the cosmos really is and we are just living in a very tiny part of it – like at the top of Horton’s flower.
When we place all of these amazing and wonderful facts together, you can’t help but realize that there is something much larger than we know happening here. It is a miracle.
Taking Time to Appreciate:
Living our life as though everything is a miracle, opens up our heart, gives us a broader perspective and helps us to remain optimistic throughout our day. Recent research including one by Dr. Robert Emmons of the University of California and Mike McCullough of the University of Miami found that people who daily recorded things they were grateful for had a higher happiness and contentment factor than those who remained neutral or thought of negative issues or situations.
So let’s start seeing everything as a miracle! Here are some examples to help get you started.
- As you wake up in the morning, take a moment to stretch, feel your body and verbally or mentally say “thank you” to your wonderful body;
- Throughout your day, when someone does something nice for you. Take a moment to thank them. It might be someone who opens a door for you or allows you to merge in front of them in traffic. Show your appreciation!
- Send a note, text, email, Facebook message to someone you truly appreciate. Say “thank you” and take a moment to say why you appreciate that person.
- Before going to sleep, take a moment to think of at least 5 things that you were appreciative from the day.
Each of these exercises opens you up to seeing the other miracles around us.
Enjoy!
Are you interested in practicing gratitude and mindfulness? Join Four Directions Wellness for Mindfulness Mondays. Every 2nd and 4th Monday of the month, join us for a complimentary meditation. Learn more here.