Gratitude and Appreciation ~ An Essay ~ Thanksgiving 2021 ~ A Little Rant of Sorts…
I am different from you, but not really. Peel away the skin, and regardless of race, gender, ethnicity, sexual orientation, religion, etc., we all have the same skeleton, organs, muscles and trillions of other things going on inside our bodies, which are the same! We are actually more alike than we are different!
The same in nature. Looking at a grove of redwood trees, each tree is unique unto itself, however, deeper inside, you find the way they are nourished and grow is the same. All plants and trees depend upon the actions of trillions of insects, mycelium, micro organisms and more in order for the soil to become nourishing enough for them to grow! Plants depend upon the sun and rain and sometimes the fertilizing affects of bird songs and other elements in nature all around them.
I would imagine, if you could follow the steps back to “the creation” of every element that is involved in the manufacturing of your house, your clothes, the food you eat, all the products you use, your computer and cell phone, your furniture, and cars….came from Mother Earth and that most human cultures, genders, ethnicity, sexual orientations, religions, etc., would also be represented in some way, in the creation and manufacturing of all the millions of components that went into their design and manufacture, or growing of elements necessary to produce them!
None of us live in “isolation” from each other. The idea of “separation” is a complete illusion and myth we have lived for far too long! Someone had to imagine and create the first wheel for example! Thousands of people involved in the improvement and modifications and today a company just manufactured a puncture proof tire! Someone else had the idea of creating roads and then many others improving upon them again and again. Without them today, few of the things we enjoy would exist! The idea of trains and planes, and all the millions of elements which have gone into their improvement. The manufacturing of other machines to make the components necessary to build them! Before that, the extraction of elements from Nature transformed into metals and boards of wood from trees and plastics from oil, etc.! Today some boards are made from recycled plastic too!
When you sit down to eat any meal, consider the millions elements in the earth, the millions of hands that were necessary for you to enjoy your meal!! Some Magnificent Being created all kinds of plants for us to grow and eat! Created the soil and the zillions of microscopic organisms and creatures which continue to create the magic that ends up as soil, that grows most of what we eat! People who plant the seeds, nurture and grow and harvest the plants. Those who clean and package them, transport them to warehouses and then stores where people buy them. All the machines and parts and components necessary for each one of these processes and the people who designed and made each of them! Literally millions of things had to happen before the food arrived on your table today and you partake of a simple or elegant, extravagant meal at home or in a restaurant!!
Are you Grateful and Appreciating the sheer MAGIC which exists Every Single Day in your life? All that must happen today, and has happened in the past…. just for you to be able to turn on a light, have hot and cold water coming from a faucet, put on a lovely shirt, eat a meal, watch a movie, play a video game, drive to work??
When is the last time you stood outside and Thanked all of Nature for Every Object in your life? Mother Earth gives and gives and infinitely gives, providing the raw materials for everything we use, wear, live in, drive, sail, fly, eat and so much more!! It is a rare human being who can create these things out of thin air! Do you thank ….God/the Universe/All That Is/Creator for the sheer Magic surrounding you every day, even living in a city?
That is why I live in a constant state of Appreciation and Gratitude to Every Particle of Creation, because I want to make sure I am including Everything including Every Human Being in my prayers. Including every breath I take and the air I breathe. The water I drink, bird songs, beautiful things in nature, a smile from a stranger, a hug, a butterfly. Each one, a One-0f-A-Kind, Unique, Precious Being or Thing.
I ask everyone to imagine if all custodians, janitors, trash and garbage collectors stopped working for a month, how your life would be different? How would it change? What if tomorrow, we had no grocery clerks for a month? No one to stock the shelves either. Maybe all the mail people could no longer deliver the mail for a month. Would that be OK with you? We could not find any school bus drivers for a month. Maybe imagine no teachers to handle 30 little kindergarten children all by themselves for several hours a day, five days a week? Everyone is Important whether you realize it or not. Regardless of their gender, sexual orientation, religion, ethnicity, culture, mental or physical disability or anything else! Sometimes the lowest paid people are much more important than you imagined them to be, unless they disappear for a while!
Perhaps you might want to spend time daily giving One Moment of Gratitude & Appreciation… for the Incredible Magical World in which you live, which was not possible a hundred years ago, or even conceivable to most people! We all Need Each Other…. in order to Thrive! Everyone deserves fresh water to drink; a durable, warm shelter; clothes to wear; adequate good food to eat and more. Today we have the ability to make this possible for all people!
Wars cost trillions of dollars. Designing, creating, manufacturing all the war machines (Jeeps, trucks, tanks, planes, submarines, missile silos, drones) which are more destructive and kill more people more effectively every year! This is a waste of money! If we spent all that money instead, on working on ways to make life better for everyone, our country and our world could be transformed in a short period of time.
Most diseases and illnesses seem to affect everyone, despite their color, race, sexual orientation,ethnicity, mental or physical challenges, and so on.The closer and closer you look, the more similarities you find. Like every element in nature, we too were each created to be Unique. However we all share One Planet and all the elements in Nature…TOGETHER! Micro-plastics have been found in all our oceans, much of our drinking water and even in wells, as it travels around the world in clouds and falls in the rain. The same with millions of dangerous chemicals used around the world. A few decades ago, several countries, including the U.S. dumped radioactive waste into the ocean because they thought it was a safe place to put it!
Maybe you want to Begin Today, taking time, One Moment out of your day, to Thank and Appreciate …Every Person and Every Particle of Creation which makes your life, and all forms of life Possible today and every day. That which you appreciate appreciates and grows when Loved. Most people enjoy being appreciated and so does Nature and all contained within her! So do other people whose job you might not yet appreciate fully. Take a Moment Today and Everyday to be THANKFUL for Everyone and Everything and All of Nature for making your life Possible… today and every day of your life!
P.S. LOVE without condition heals. Hatred, anger, rage, fighting, killing will not heal the people or things we don’t like to see, or experience in the world. We can love without conditions and still not like or approve of what someone does. Because when we get angry and want revenge, and want to punish and kill someone for what they did, we become our enemy! We become like them. We often feel the very emotions inspiring their detrimental actions in the first place and it only keeps perpetuating more of the same.
The less and less love we feel and experience, the more painful it becomes and the angrier or depressed people become, often blaming the others around them for their pain! All these emotions create tension in our body making it more difficult for us to breathe easily, more difficult for our hearts to beat. Every function in our body suffers when we tense up in angry, stressful situations creating a “dis-ease” in our body. The opposite of relaxed and calm. We tire more easily and react instead of respond to difficult situations. LOVE more, hate less, judge less. Become a Blessing to the world by the Love you share every day. Shine a little more Light every day! Make a Difference and show more Appreciation for the Miracles all around you! I love you always and ever!
Celebrating Love’s Magic, Morgine Jurdan