All The Thanks!
By:
Bob Ross
My mind is always racing with things to rant and rave about, with ideas and solutions to problems, and I find myself sometimes dwelling on those problems a bit too much. As many people who have taken the heart wrenching delve into alternative knowledge and have discovered some of the darkest corners of corruption, it can be easy to find myself bogged down. I feel immensely blessed that I am not by nature a downer, and hate feeling sorry for myself or stressing over situations I cannot control. It always helps to make a list and go through everything I have to be grateful for, and this process brings a much needed balance. It is amazing to think that I have so much I can reflect on and be positive about that I have a hard time knowing where to start. So, I guess I will start with that; the sheer quantity of excellent experiences I have had and the hope they give me for the future. We live in one of the most exciting and dynamic times in history, with technology aiding our understanding of the world at a rapid pace, and new avenues opening up each day to make our own future better. I love reflecting on this gift of life I have, that I can experience such great highs and lows and that those experiences help shape me and hopefully better my ability to empathize with others. Just the fact that I am breathing and awake each day is mind blowing to me, and that I get to partake in this miracle. It is miraculous that in the microcosm of our bodies, we function automatically and make connections from our brains to our physical bodies that happen so rapidly we don’t even think about them; that without every little specific bacteria and cell and connective processes we would not even be alive. We are wonderfully made on just a basic physical level, and possess such abilities unlike any animal that shares this earth with us. Aside from the abilities of our physical processes, we have the supernatural gift of consciousness. That alone is so vital to understanding our role on this earth and how we can use it to better this existence for all people. T a degree we share a consciousness and also have our individual awareness, and it is an ever present source of growth that ironically we cannot begin to understand or explain with words oftentimes. We are aware that we are aware, but can we even understand wholly the depths of our awareness? There is no human who can perfect their understanding of this consciousness, and that mystery fascinates me to no end. From this consciousness springs the ability to create, to change, to grow, to feel, to love, to live through the ecstatic highest peaks and learn from the darkest depths. Learning, ahh. I love that there is no end to knowledge; that we can study forever and never figure out all the mysteries this life contains. Every day holds something we can learn from, and we get to have the choice to learn from even the seemingly miniscule moments of each day. Equally impressive is that no one is forcing us to learn, and we have the free will to choose whether or not we learn. With the advent of technology, we are only beginning to see how little we truly know, yet the access to information is at an all-time high and only seems to be growing. Isn’t that incredible? We have even greater access to reality and the truth about the world we live in, and have the opportunity to see it for what it is and appreciate its complexity. While knowledge increases sorrow, that sorrow plants seeds of understanding that can grow and bloom into positive action. I do not subscribe to the idea of American exceptionalism, but we have been immensely fortunate to live in a country where the opportunities for advancement are literally at our fingertips. It is up to us to recognize the responsibility we have as a caveat of our privilege, though, and this is something else that should be highly appreciated. Responsibility is not a burden, but an opportunity to use our status as a way to encourage others and set an example for future generations and likewise be an inspiration to older generations. These times are exciting, and though the future bodes uncertain for my generation with regard to the debt and wars, the world is becoming a different place as more and more people realize that blind submission to immoral authority has yielded nothing but bitter fruit. We cannot depend on leaders to fix the problems we face, but the time is ripe for a new mode of thinking that is solution--not problem--oriented. A mere six years ago, a transition began in my life that would affect my entire worldview drastically in such a way that would never allow me to go back to my old way of thinking. Having always found an outlet for my frustrations in writing, I began writing loads of poetry and that would land on sometimes deaf ears despite my passion. Some people really liked it, and others thought I sounded preachy, but I am so thankful that I even have an outlet to physically express myself. I am equally grateful that I now contribute to Freedom’s Phoenix, and some people even seem to genuinely like what I write about! I am eternally grateful for the rock I have to stand on, and the source of my abilitiesâ€"God the Creator, for I do not believe that any talent I may have comes only from myself, but exquisitely from the opportunities I have had to hone my skills as a result of having the blessing of life. I still love you if you disagree with the concept of a Creator, and do not want to imply that I am such a good writer that my words are divinely inspired or anything ;) Deep love is yet another feeling that overwhelms me and captivates me. Even if you don’t believe in God, we all have the ability to love deeply, and as humans we should take every chance we get to love and be loved. I love that there is so much to be grateful for and one of those is love itself. It feels astounding to be part of a movement of people who care so much the direction our country is heading and who focus so much on the solutions to the issues we face. It is even more astounding to see how many more people are waking up to the truths of this world compared with just a few years ago. The veracity with which people are pursuing knowledge and connecting with others to attempt to fix our society gives me real, abiding hope that no political campaign can trademark. Despite the pain questing for the truth can cause, it is out of tragedy that we are made stronger, more capable, and even more loving. We have so much good to be truly thankful for, but I have found that being even more grateful for the trials we go through offers resilience and grace that cannot be learned in any other way. There is no question that difficult times are here and more will come, but we have all the tools necessary to overcome them with dignity and can use the mercy we acquire to continue to make a better future. Remarkably, in spite of all this we can still be thankful that we can be thankful. Meghan has been writing poetry, prose, short stories, and essays for several years, has been published in small independent publications (mostly poetry), and currently runs the blog at Roberts & Roberts Brokerage (http://rrbi.co/category/blog/). Her focus is on social issues, politics, fitness, and natural health topics. The best way to contact Meghan is on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100001243544080
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