| My friend Nancy sent me this note today: "I work | | | | mind. And there are gazillions of little things making |
| in the sewing room at Hilo Medical Center.... The | | | | up the place you are sitting right now. |
| other day one of the physical therapists came in | | | | Stop reading and look around you. Let yourself |
| and asked me to stitch something really fast on a | | | | have an open eyed gratitude meditation ... |
| couple of wrist splints. | | | | I am grateful for my chair, the table I am sitting |
| My scissors fell of the table....as I reached down to | | | | at, pens, paper, my computer, the printer, my |
| pick them up she said "An absolutely brilliant | | | | camera, the phone, and all the cords that help |
| tool.....scissors" and smiled. | | | | them work, my journal, my coffee cup, the table |
| It was an "aha" moment of sorts. After she left | | | | cloth, my warm fuzzy slippers and robe. Each one |
| the room, I looked at my scissors and was | | | | of these I can follow deeper, finding even more |
| grateful for them. | | | | things to be grateful for - like the electricity in my |
| Who-da thought?" | | | | home and the recycled pop bottles that are now |
| April 22 our Centre community gathered to | | | | the fleece robe I am wearing. |
| celebrate the Earth, and as we drummed and | | | | Our lives are made of little things.... And Gratitude |
| sang and prayed, it became all about gratitude. I | | | | - it's the key to being happy. |
| read a quote from the Catholic writer Ernesto | | | | SPIRITUAL MIND TREATMENT |
| Cardenal from Abide in Love who observed: | | | | Gratefully I acknowledge God in the details of my |
| "Everything in nature has a trademark, God's | | | | life. This reminds me God is absolutely |
| trademark: the stripes on a shell and the stripes | | | | everywhere. There isn't a place where God is not. |
| on a zebra; the grain of the wood and the veins | | | | My life is made of little things. I open my mind to |
| of the dry leaf; the markings on the dragonfly's | | | | see them. I open my heart to appreciate them. In |
| wings and the pattern of stars on a photographic | | | | my mind's eye, I see a web of 'little things' |
| plate; the panther's coat and the epidermal cells of | | | | connecting everything and everyone together. I |
| the lily petal; the structure of atoms and galaxies. | | | | am so grateful to be an essential part of this web |
| All bear God's fingerprints." | | | | of Life. I am grateful to be able to recognize my |
| We began to acknowledge patterns: butterfly | | | | value in this web. As I recognize the little things, I |
| wings, spider webs, the glistening of snow in the | | | | am honoring their purpose. As I see all these little |
| moonlight, the rainbow effects of oil on cement, | | | | things as expressions of the Divine, I am honoring |
| the ripples of a drop of water, the feathers on an | | | | my purpose. |
| eagles wing, the petal whirls of flowers, the | | | | God is absolutely everywhere - and where ever |
| threads in the carpet beneath us and the cellular | | | | God is, all is well. I know this is True, I claim it and |
| structure of our bodies. | | | | I accept it, and this is good, very good. |
| I noticed none of us shared "big" things ... and the | | | | I release these words with a full heart. And so it |
| phrase 'it's the little things that count' came to | | | | is. |