Do You Appreciate Your Abundance?

We are blessed to be alive on planet earth at this moment in time. We are so important to the planet because we are on the cusp of a rise in the consciousness of all humanity that will bring on the dawn of a new era of life as we know it on this beautiful blue planet. I believe that the proper thing to do when you are confronted with this situation is to be eternally grateful.

The great thing about it is you can begin right now and start being grateful for all that you possess in your life. Not only the material possessions but more importantly the non-material ideals and concepts that you hold about who you are.

We are blessed to be living on a planet that is truly a paradise.

When we step back and look at the big picture of this physical earth that we occupy, we are in awe of the beauty, diversity and magnificence of it all. Just think of the variety of terrains, from Arctic ice caps, to the Sahara Desert, to the Amazon jungle, to the Grand Canyon. You can vacation in the tropics or ski the Swiss Alps. You can cruise Alaska's inside passage or walk on the Great Wall of China. You can dive in the waters of the Great Barrier Reef or visit the pyramids of Egypt.

This unbelievable composition of land mass is further complimented by the vast array of water that surrounds us, nourishes our land and sustains the life of these human bodies. We get to enjoy this bounty of liquid life in a myriad of ways beyond nourishing our bodies so that we can exist at all. From walking in a spring rain to the snow falls in winter that leave a virgin blanket of white to cover the land. Ski on a lake or ski on a mountain, swim in the warmth of the Bermuda beaches, or hike in the extreme cold of Mt. Everest.

When you really look at nature from the perspective of the big picture you realize that we are not alone in this venture.

Besides the human species, this planet is alive with creatures of all shapes and sizes in a giant matrix of sharing in this fantastic game called life. Don't you just love thumbing through a “National Geographic” and seeing animal species that you had never heard of before, much less ever seen? It is fascinating and mind-boggling when you start to comprehend the vastness and diversity of the conglomerate of animals and creatures that inhabit this planet with us. Animals of every shape, size and description share this planet from the tops of the highest mountains to the depths of the deepest oceans.

When you see this animal kingdom you are not only struck by the vastness and variety, but as you look at it more and more you see the interconnectedness of it all. You observe that the animal kingdom, unlike the human species, lives in harmony with nature. In the animal kingdom you see that there is enough for all. Only when man interferes with the natural order of things does this balance become obscured and species die off as a result. We have much to learn from the fellow animals sharing this earth with us. These are things the soul knows and things that you too will know when you wake up.

Besides animals, we need to be grateful for the world of plants that nature (another name for God) provides for us. We are blessed with fertile, verdant soils that reap a collage of plant life that not only stimulates the visual aspects of our lives, but also sustains the bodies that we occupy during our time here on earth. These plants not only provide us with the food we eat but also supply us with the medicines we need to help maintain our bodies in times of illness or disease. We have barely tapped into what is available to us. There are plants out there ready and willing to serve us that we don't even know about yet.

Amazingly there are plants that we do know about that do serve us and we don't even use them. The world has a plant species with amazing powers of strength, agility and healing that we have known and used for centuries. It is called hemp and it is one of the most versatile plants known to man. The fiber from hemp could be used to make our Sunday newspapers, but we would rather cut down a magnificent two hundred year old tree for paper rather than use a resource that can be grown to maturity three or four times a year. For right now, let's just all be grateful that we have these plants; both the hemp and the two hundred year old tree.

I have just scratched the surface of the topics to be grateful for when looking at the big picture, but let's bring our focus in a little and look at the bounty that exists at the personal level.

It's really hard to live in America and not be grateful. Whether you were born here or came here from another country, you live in one of the most bountiful places on earth, and you have access to the opportunity to “be” who ever you choose to be.

The physical environment we live in is like a Garden of Eden. No matter where you live you can be walking in nature in a matter of minutes or hours. Even in the denseness of the cities, there are nature parks where you can go to slow yourself down and see the beauty of grass, trees, plants and animals. Our skies are filled with birds and their songs fill the air.

We live in homes that are palatial when compared to many parts of the world. Running water, electricity and flush toilets are automatic accoutrements to our life style that we don't even think about, much less be thankful for.

We own cars that are marvels of technology and engineering. We have the mobility to travel hundreds of miles from our homes, view the ocean, and travel hundreds of miles back home in a single day and be there in time to watch the evening news on our digital televisions. The technology of this modern age allows us to communicate around the world as if you were talking to your neighbor across the fence.

We adorn ourselves with clothes and apparel and fill our closets with so much stuff that we have to give it away in order to get more new stuff. Do you appreciate the old before it becomes outdated to you? Or do you just use it and lose it without an iota of thanks?

We eat the finest of foods and we eat the worst of foods.

It is all there for you within minutes of your reach. Whether you go to your fully stocked refrigerators and pantry, or you travel to the local fast food joint, or you dine at the latest trendy restaurant, you are at choice at all times to the unbelievable bounty of food available to you. Whether you gobble your food from the convenience of your car or spend hours creating a gourmet meal, you never seem to be too concerned about where your next meal is coming from. Is that something to be thankful for or what?

Our houses and living accommodations are full of appliances and nick nacks that we bought with the intent to fill some purpose. The bare necessities don't seem to be enough. We want the adornments and all of the stuff that goes along with our idea that he who has the most toys wins. Even though much of the useless junk we buy and hoard goes into a closet or garage never to see the light of day. Do you really appreciate all of this stuff? Or is it just a habit of accumulation without appreciation?

Then we get down to the real personal stuff. Our relationships with the people that occupy our lives. Our parents, our children, our siblings, our friends, our lovers, our neighbors, our co-workers, our dearly departed, and the whole gambit of other human beings that exist and have a relationship with you. You should be grateful for all of them, because through them you have defined who you are. It is in our relationships that we are able to determine not only who we are but also who we are not.

It is in our relationships that we come to understand that what we do for another we do for ourselves, and more importantly, what we do for ourselves, we do for another.

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