How to have what you REALLY want in life.

Gratitude is one of the most powerful forces in the universe. 13th century philosopher, theologian and mystic Meister Eckhart once said; “If the only prayer you said was thank you,that would be enough.” In essence, when you contrast and compare those you see as successful with those you see as not successful, one of the key underlying differences is that successful people have cultivated an attitude of gratitude. So how do you cultivate an attitude of gratitude? Well by now most of us are familiar with the ‘doing’s’ of gratitude such as: keep a ‘victory’ or gratitude journal, take 1 minute every morning when you rise to list everything you’re grateful for, using affirmations to change your thinking on a subconscious level (I actually still practice each these on a daily basis in my personal life), but in this blog post I want to delve into the being-ness of gratitude. What gratitude is and what gratitude is not.

The being of gratitude is, you guessed it; being grateful. To be grateful is to be thankful for everything you have and everything that you expect to have in life. In my experience, being grateful also encompasses the experience of a sense of excitement of becoming, and a knowing that ‘good’ things are coming to you. it is that latter part that makes being grateful difficult to master and experience, yet once mastered, gratitude or being grateful becomes effortless! To be thankful is a very high and powerful vibration to experience in your being. Such a high vibration is so powerful that when accessed, it completely transforms your life. The frequency of gratitude actually attracts abundance, and gives you access to your greatest potential. When you discover all the things you have to be grateful for in your life and focus your energy on the emotions associated with them into your experience, your life begins to shift to match that vibration and your emotions. Whatever you appreciate, appreciates.

Gratitude is a choice and choice is the source of true power.

You may be asking, if gratitude is a choice, and choice is the source of power, then why isn’t everyone ‘choosing’ an attitude of gratitude? The answer lies in the illusion of duality in which human beings have been living. You see most people are unconsciously choosing not gratitude and focusing their attention, intention and emotions on the opposite of being grateful. Judgment. That’s right; the opposite of gratitude is judgment. You see to be thankful in life is to accept your life the way it is and the way it isn’t. Now most people have quite a few things about themselves and their lives that they refuse to accept. My belief is that they have confused two ideals and think if they accept something it means that they also condone the thing/act. This is why when I coach people around judgment and acceptance, inevitably someone brings up ‘good’ and ‘evil’.

“Brandi I cannot accept the evil things that people do as being okay.” And that’s the trap. That’s the ‘why’ behind people choosing not gratitude instead of gratitude.

You see inside of the illusion of duality, there exist only two options for everything: good vs bad, right vs, wrong, sinner vs saint, up vs down etc… Notice that not only are there only 2 options, but that the options given are presented in a stark contrast or opposition of each other. In reality, there is always more than two options- that’s what make choice possible. When you live your life like there is only two options for you to work with –you will have to make a decision, which rarely leads to the experience of power and freedom that you want. The illusion of duality experienced as having to make a decision is the perfect set up for judgment. As you look at your two options, your mind uses logic and reasoning to ferret out the least risky option or the ‘lesser of two evils’. You are judging yourself and the outcome before you’ve committed a single action. It is impossible to be grateful inside of this illusion; it’s not possible to see what is or what isn’t, therefore you don’t stand a chance of being thankful for everything.

To be thankful is a generous act of acceptance that does not require you to condone or to repeat any actions you may or may not align with. To accept something is for you to choose to not judge. I accept you and I do not know you. I choose to not judge you. When was the last time you said or heard the following: “Why can’t you accept them for who they are/accept me for who I am?” It takes courage to accept someone or something the way it is and the way it isn’t. You see for me to accept someone for who they are is to accept them as another myself and for me to ask you to accept me for who I am is for me to ask you to accept me as another yourself. The moment I accept you as another myself, everything else disappears and WE ARE ONE. In that moment everything else disappears and only that which is real remains; I Am/Love. Acceptance is reality in action. If judgment is a prison that keeps you from living life on your terms, then gratitude is the key that springs the lock on your cell door.

Now some of you may say ‘I don’t judge others Brandi, I accept others the way they are’. Yet we are all practiced at judging one of the most important people in our lives: ourselves. We have all judged our own thoughts, actions, and decisions. What else is a failure but an action judged as not producing what we want? In the illusion of duality there is only what you want and what you don’t want. In reality; all roads lead to the fulfillment of your desires. There are only refinements of vision and the clarification of goals along the way.

Up until now, the human experience has been a finite experience of limitation. As we have mentioned before, the natural state of the universe is abundance; and gratitude allows us to shift ourselves out of the old paradigm of lack and limitation into the universal reality of abundance. As you master being grateful you will open yourself up to the higher vibration of gratitude and effortlessly attract your desires, as what you seek you already have. Judgment based in fear has you looking for an answer outside of yourself. The answer that you are seeking, you can only ever find inside of yourself. How can anyone or anything else show you how to be you?

It has been your judgment of yourself and others that has kept you from discovering the truth that You Already Have everything you desire. So, what do you desire and what are you willing to stop judging to receive your desires? Comment below.