YOGA - WEST OF THE NARROWS
GRIPE POTATOES COVERED IN GRATITUDE GRAVY
With Thanksgiving on the rise, there's no shortage of messages on thankfulness and gratitude. These messages tell us to "focus on the positive" to lessen the blow of the negative. I got to thinking, "Isn't that too easy? A little fluffy even?"
In this material world, we are faced with all sorts of dichotomies. The only reason the color blue is blue, is because there are other colors to contrast it to. Without darkness, no knowledge of light. Without bitter, no understanding of sweet. "Bad" gives way to grasping a concept of "good." But is "bad" actually so?
Can we learn to appreciate the ugly, the bitter, the wrongdoings, the racism, the ongoing list of seemingly negative things.....?
We've all heard the phrase, "The silver lining was (fill in the blank)." I like this because it emanates the idea that the silver lining (the good) was not separate, but actually engulfing the cloud (the bad). That, although we may have only percieved the cloud, in actuality - it was smothered in goodness.
It is a jagged pill to swallow. We tend to choke on the belief that the cancer that took a loved one, the dog that killed our cat, or the crack in our personality were/are actually, all the while, THE GOOD. However, without these things, we would never understand the flipside. Would love seem so grand if we hadn't been lonely? Would the sweetness taste as sweet if we'd never experienced bitter or sour? Would happiness feel mundane if we dwelled in it all the time?
We are here on earth, for the time being, and the dichotomies are inescapable, but what isn't is the ability to be thankful and have gratitude for those things we have held as enemies in our hearts.
What would be so bad about letting go of our war against them? What possibilities might open if we learned to appreciate fully these imperfections, and deemed them beautiful, even necessary?
I'm not saying that racism is glorious, car crashes phenomenal, and stepping in poop is a beautiful moment, but I bet, if you look hard enough, there's something to be grateful for and a silver lining smothering each undesirable moment, in every waking hour. Let them teach you, let them force you to be the good you wish to see, to share the knowledge they've embedded in you.
What can you take from a place of darkness inside you and reconsider to finally allow light in that space? What can you dig deep to appreciate? It's harder to do, but much more freeing once done.
Enjoy the holiday, Yogis!
