“I have come to accept the feeling of not knowing where I am going. And I have trained myself to love it. Because it is only when we are suspended in mid-air with no landing in sight, that we force our wings to unravel and alas begin our flight. And as we fly, we still may not know where we are going to. But the miracle is in the unfolding of the wings. You may not know where you’re going, but you know that so long as you spread your wings, the winds will carry you.” ~C. JoyBell C.
In his wonderfully inspiring book, The Boy, the mole, the fox and the Horse, Charlie Mackesy has the character of “The Horse” reveal something to the boy. Here’s how the conversation unfolds:
“There’s something I haven’t told you.” Said the horse.
“What’s that?” Said the boy.
“I can fly. But I stopped because it made the other horses jealous.”
“Well we love you whether you can fly or not.”
To their amazement, the next thing the boy and the mole realize, they are watching the horse’s wings unfurl…
In the next scene, the boy and the mole are seen crawling up the horses outstretched leg to take their place upon his back. The boy and the mole are seated on the horses back. With wings outstretched, the majesty of the horse is undeniable. The word “Ok” sits in quotes at the top of the page.
On the next page, we witness flight…
The next two pages provide for a powerful transition…
“Is your glass half empty or half full?” asked the mole.
“I think I’m grateful to have a glass.” Said the boy.
“We don’t know about tomorrow.” Said the horse. “All we need to know is that we love each other.”
The book goes on in this magical way and once again I offer my highest praise and strongest recommendation that you purchase a copy for yourself. It is a stable resource in my day to day, one day at a time, approach to life.
Why do we mute ourselves? Why do we hide our shine? What are we afraid of?
Why would our ability to fly make other horses or other people jealous?
Why would our response be to hide our wings?
Which fear is rearing its ugly head when we hide our shine or fold our wings back so no one can see them?
Each of us comes to this world with a special gift that only we can give to humanity. If we do not find the courage to give it, then as Martha Graham says, something wonderful will be lost.
Here is the good news:
“We always may be what we might have been.” ~Adelaide Anne Procter
In the Miracle Morning Room on Clubhouse today, we talked about self-confidence. We asked each other how the Miracle Morning and the SAVERS practice helps us to discover or further develop self-confidence. The array of answers is what the Leader of this incredible experience refers to as crowdsourcing wisdom.
Brianna Greenspan is the Co-Author of The Miracle Morning Art of Affirmations: A Positive Coloring Book for Adults and Kids and the Co-founder, Host, and Moderator of The Miracle Morning Clubhouse Room. Every morning, the wisdom of the room is crowdsourced to make the Universe just a little bit better for my grandchildren. (No, this is not the stated purpose of the room, but it’s “my personal why” for being a part of it).
Photo from Authors Collection
What I just described is the natural consequence of creating a safe container for people to come together with a likeminded purpose of growth.
Everyday, we “get to” witness the magic of the Miracle Morning. It’s as if we can hear the following if we are willing to listen:
I am the miracle. I am the morning.
“The Miracle Morning is elevating the consciousness of humanity, one morning at a time.” ~Hal Elrod
I am the miracle. I am the morning.
It repeats itself in every share and every affirmation of whatever is openly shared as a response to an intentional question, a vulnerable and authentic disclosure, or a deep reflection.
Not only is wisdom being crowdsourced, but so is courage, confidence, appreciation, humility, dignity, respect, self-love, self-confidence, self-esteem, self-reflection, gratitude, and ultimately, Joy and yes, sometimes, dare I say, even bliss…
When we show up with purpose and intention, grounded in community, we can do, be, or become, whatever we choose. We can do this because we are no longer trying to do it on our own or in an unsupported or unnatural way. We do it by showing up and putting into practice, to the best of our ability, the SAVERS.
Don’t make it harder than it is. One of our regular contributors who is all about doing it her way simply says this: You can start with 6 minutes if that’s all you have to contribute right now and then just show up for yourself every day. The cumulative effect of your one day at a time approach to honoring yourself will give you results you only once imagined were possible, but with the help of the community, you will see that they are possible for you as well.
If you are not interested in Clubhouse or not an iOS user, you can find the Miracle Morning and the SAVERS at MiracleMorning.com or you can find them on multiple social media platforms, in bookstores, on Amazon, or wherever you go to get your daily podcast download.
In other words, The Miracle Morning is everywhere. It is as is expressed by one of my favorite unique words, ubiquitous, which simply means in scientific terms, everywhere.
For those wondering, the SAVERS stand for:
Silence
Affirmations
Visualization
Exercise
Reading
Scribing (just a cool way of capturing what journaling is).
The SAVERS are not only the backbone of the Miracle Morning Movement, but they are also “the six most powerful, effective, and time-tested personal development practices known to man … known as the Life S.A.V.E.R.S.” and I assure you, if implemented into your daily practice, your life will be almost unrecognizable in the shortest amount of time possible.
If your life is already magical and magnificent, then someone might just ask you when you decided to let your wings show. They might ask you if you know your wings are showing?
Your reply will be humble, just like the horse, and you will invite them to join you on your journey of curiosity and together you will fly into the uncharted territory of self-discovery. You will not go alone, but instead, supported on your path of learning about all you are capable of, not all at once, but “one day at a time” in a community ready to support you on your quest to become whoever YOU choose to BE!
Together WE can!
I am the miracle. I am the morning.
If you enjoyed today’s article, watch for the next one where I will explain for those of you who have little ones, how to modify this practice for your kids. When the SAVERS become CHARMS, magic happens!
By the way, if you enjoyed this article, I believe you will thoroughly enjoy my next book, Advance Confidently. I look forward to sharing it with you on the 4th of July.
Keep Pedaling, Keep Going, Keep Growing!
Advance Confidently!
If you enjoyed and found value in this article, please share it.
In Gratitude,
Bobby Kountz, Author, Speaker, Sobriety Scholar, Inspirationalist!
PS. You can find out more about me here. You can find my book on Amazon.
Author’s Note: I completed my 30-Day Spring into 2021 writing challenge!
“To speak gratitude is courteous and pleasant, to enact gratitude is generous and noble, but to live gratitude is to touch Heaven.” -Johannes A. Gaertner
What does it mean to move from speaking gratitude to
enacting gratitude to living gratitude? When we speak gratitude, we are engaged
in the act of expressing our thanks or thankfulness to another. Speaking
gratitude is the simplest and most common form of everyday gratitude.
When you expressed thanks to your Barista this morning
for your grande, extra shot, non-fat, no whip, extra caramel, caramel brûlée latte, you were speaking gratitude. When I
ordered my simple grande Christmas blend, and said thank you as it was handed
to me through the window, I did the same.
Enacting gratitude is where we consciously decide to
do something that involves some form of gratitude action. A great example most
everyone understands and can relate to is the simple act of giving a gift. The
gift can be something as small as a thank you card, a more robust message in a
card or letter, buying a meal or a cup of coffee for a friend or stranger, or
an even bigger gift for a birthday or special occasion.
When
we begin to live gratitude, it shifts from being something we do sometimes or
on a special occasion, to becoming a way of life. We gradually learn to live
from gratitude, from the space of gratitude, and for gratitude. Gratitude as a
way of life is a reframing of both our outlook and our perception. We move from
taking life for granted to an inner awareness that suddenly expresses itself in
everything we see, everything we do, and everything we are.
Gratitude can even be viewed as a state of
consciousness. It involves opening your heart to the abundance of love and
splendor that surrounds us in our earthly world every day.
When I watched the sun rise above the horizon this
morning I was once again in awe of the splendor of the sun. This life-giving
orb is taken for granted by countless thousands of individuals every day and
for many years I was one of those individuals. I never really gave the sun much
thought. Once I did, my perception changed and that’s the power of gratitude.
Sunsets are an easier grasp for most people because
almost everyone has at one time or another experienced a cinematic sunset ablaze
with the hues of burnt orange or crimson red against the backdrop of wispy
cotton balls splashed across the sky.
The saying or phrase of “stop and smell the
roses” suddenly derives new meaning when we realize the world is full of
fragrance, and roses are just one simple yet beautiful element that
demonstrates this fact.
When we live gratitude, we discover people have a
fragrance as well…
It is the essence of their being, how they make us
feel when we’re around them, what they have us thinking about and considering,
the ideas and inspiration they openly share with those who are willing to
listen can be life-changing!
My friend Chris Palmore from www.GratitudeSpace.com is one of those people. He is just one of many. His most recent book, Dear Gratitude is full of stories reflecting the lives and experiences of people who have embraced gratitude as a way of life.
His
next endeavor is a bold one!
Dear 2020, his second Anthology, will give people an
opportunity to reflect on this most challenging year to see if they can find
the silver lining in what we are all painfully aware has been an incredibly difficult
time in our history.
His hope is that gratitude can serve as a powerful
elixir to ease some of that suffering by engaging in the cathartic practice of writing
about the 2020 experience.
Chris knows all too well the pain of loss and grief
and understands the difficulty of this experience. He also knows from his own
experience just how much gratitude helped him process his own grief, pain,
loss, and adversity. His only wish as a dedicated gratitude conductor is to
create a safe space for potential healing with the life-altering power of
gratitude.
The link below will give you an opportunity to express
yourself in a way that just might be the beginning of a life-changing process
for those not regularly accustomed to focusing on gratitude. Submissions are
being accepted thru January 10th, but my suggestion is to submit
your story or essay while you are inspired because if you say you’ll do it Someday,
it will most likely never happen…
One of the most talked about and probably
misunderstood ways of embracing gratitude as a way of life is some form of a
gratitude practice. Having a gratitude practice is a great way to develop a
gratitude lifestyle, but it’s also easy to get caught up in the practice and to
begin to see it as more of a check the box kind of activity rather than a true
lifestyle change.
Exercise is an activity that often gets a check the
box approach rather than embracing movement and resistance training as a part
of daily lifestyle. It’s a mindset shift. It’s the difference between asking
did I get my 30 minutes in and checking the box if the answer is yes to, did I find
a way to incorporate movement and activity into my life today?
I hope you can see the difference.
If you’re interested in embracing gratitude as a way
of life, there are several practical methods you can use to begin the
process. We can ask ourselves empowering questions and we can create
activities that raise our level of gratitude awareness.
Here are a handful of easy to implement suggestions.
Begin each day thinking of what we both are and can be grateful for!
List at least 3 things we are grateful for!
Imagine your life without some of the things we take for granted…
Use a gratitude journal to capture all that we are grateful for…
Use who, what, where and why to ask empowering questions of gratitude.
Examples:
Who inspired me today? Who provides small kind
opportunities for interactions that lift my spirits or brighten my mood? What
made me smile today? What touched me today? Where can I make a difference
today? When did I feel gratitude today?
As a bonus, and to go a little deeper, you can also ask
“how” questions.
Examples:
How can I experience more gratitude in my life? How
can I be thankful for the struggles and challenges I’m currently facing? How
fortunate am I?
There are hundreds of others… You get the idea, be
creative, let’s commit today to living lives of GRATITUDE!
Here’s an additional resource to help with your
gratitude questions as part of your daily gratitude practice. And remember, it’s
a practice. Gratitude isn’t done with perfection; it’s about making a conscious
commitment to think about ways of being grateful, expressing, and living
gratitude.
What happens when we take a statement and turn it into a
question? As human beings, we are wired to solve challenges, create solutions,
and answer questions. The moment we pose a question to ourselves or others, our
subconscious mind goes to work on seeking a solution. This is a natural
occurrence and happens without us even really noticing the process has
initiated, unless…
Unless what? Unless we are consciously aware and consciously
ask ourselves a question so we can activate our solution seeking abilities.
When we take control of our thinking, which by the way is the only thing we can
ever really control anyway, we activate our ability to solve for whatever it is
that might be perplexing us.
As an example, let’s just stay on track with the theme of
this message. The title of this article reads: Is It Really Possible That
The Key To Happiness Is Gratitude? After having read this just now for a
second time, what are you thinking? Are you thinking about how you might be
able to use this simple little “Six Word Story” in your own life? Have you
asked yourself yet, what if this is true? What does this mean to you?
What if, what if you decided right now in this moment you
would at least embrace this idea as a possibility? The moment we let our guard
down and open our minds to a new possibility, something miraculous happens… Our
minds expand, never to return to their previous state, because a mind once
expanded will never return to its former level of understanding…
“The mind, once stretched by a new idea, never returns to
its original dimensions.” -Ralph Waldo Emerson
Gratitude is the “KEY” that unlocks the “Fullness” of life.
As a matter of FACT, this is exactly what Gratitude does:
“Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life. It turns what we
have into enough, and more. It turns denial into acceptance, chaos to order,
confusion to clarity. It can turn a meal into a feast, a house into a home, a
stranger into a friend. Gratitude makes sense of our past, brings peace for today,
and creates a vision for tomorrow.” -Melody Beattie
“Gratitude is the KEY to Happiness” is a simple “Six Word
Story” I can easily wrap my mind around. How about You? Does it at least seem
possible these six words could hold the KEY to Happiness?
Much has been written on this subject… It appears, at least
on the surface anyway, that Gratitude & Happiness go hand in hand, the same
way two peas share the same pod, or the same way we think of shoes and socks,
or milk and cookies.
Gratitude gives rise to the very best of what lies inside
each of us. And, when we take the time and spend the effort and energy to
express our gratitude, it is this act that functions the same as a key placed
into a lock that opens with ease, because it not only fits, but is actually the
key specifically designed to go with the lock.
“Feeling gratitude and not expressing it is like wrapping a
present and not giving it.” -William Arthur Ward
Gratitude is more like a verb than a noun. Its inherent
value is experienced in the act of expression.
And yes, just like shoes and socks, or cookies and milk,
keys and locks go together, and the KEY to unlocking Happiness, is Gratitude!
If you enjoyed this article and would like a bigger slice or scoop of gratitude, I recommend: Dear Gratitude: An Anthology by my friend and fellow gratitude collaborator, Chris Palmore. The book is available on Amazon.
Learning to use Inspiration as a Catalyst for Creativity and Content Creation
ADVANCE
CONFIDENTLY
“Without inspiration the best powers of the mind remain dormant, there is a fuel in us which needs to be ignited with sparks.” -Johann Gottfried Von Herder
Inspiration is a form of expanded language. With inspiration, the very best of all we are capable of as human beings may be accessed. Our minds hold tremendous potential. We have within us the capacity for greatness. Inspiration is the spark, the thought promoting piece of the puzzle, allowing us to access a higher part of our consciousness. Ideas often come from inspiration. Ideas come to life when acted upon after receiving inspiration.
Inspiration
is like a catalyst in the makeup of an experiment. It is the substance required
for the experiment to proceed at an increased rate as it tends to speed up the
reaction of the elements. Inspiration works the same way in our minds: It gives
us the ability to see more clearly that which has yet to be produced. It helps
us in the visioning process of creation.
Ideas
will forever remain just ideas unless acted upon with faith, conviction, determination,
belief, and persistence. Inspiration is the spark which ignites our ability to
access the fuel in our mind for creative effort. Once accessed, the key element
is action. We must take consistent action on our inspiration so the spark can
be fanned into a flame.
As the
small flame of possibility grows, more and more action is added to the flame
and soon we are on fire with enough passion to bring our project into reality.
Our efforts literally create something from nothing, all from the spark of
inspiration!
Making Sense of the Uncertainty of Service to Others
“He who endeavors to serve, to benefit, and improve the world, is like a swimmer, who struggles against a rapid current, in a river lashed into angry waves by the wind. Often, they roar over his head, often they beat him back and baffle him. Most men yield to the stress of the current. Only here and there the stout, strong heart and vigorous arms struggle on towards ultimate success.” -Albert Pike
If we are called to serve, I can almost assure you, we will struggle. We will be faced with very difficult choices, and we can only hope the guidance we follow will be from our highest self. The difficulty is often in deciding if the calling is of a true divine nature, or if it’s just us in our own minds.
This is where we must have faith. If we are putting our trust in something much bigger than we are, we may also be compelled to make decisions that are much bigger than we are. Once a decision is made, it is sometimes impossible to recover from that decision, or at least in the present moment, it feels impossible.
We don’t yet know what the future holds for us, but we can be sure whatever it is, it will be based on the decisions we make every day. Sometimes we are willing to follow our instincts, and in the moment, it may look like the choices we made were wrong. Not all choices are right or wrong. Life is not a dichotomy; life is messy and complicated. Sometimes the choices we make will haunt us the rest of our lives…
The truth of the matter is, we don’t ever really know whether we made the right or wrong choice, but we know we chose. The act of not choosing is also a choice… What we must reconcile, is whether or not we can live with and stand by the choices we make. If we can find a way to do that, then we are on our way to real acceptance…
Who even knows for sure, what success really looks like as it relates to service? Success can only ever be defined individually, but whether it be in service or in life, I can almost assure you, we will be called to be stout, strong hearted, and compelled to struggle mightily against the current of life.
