Chapter Intro
We’re conditioned to believe more is always better and that we must practically work ourselves into an early grave to acquire and hoard as many material things as we can. We are taught that abundance is finite and we have to snatch up all we can before someone else does. Then there’s the popular notion that we should just focus on “a career” and put our dreams on hold until our “golden years”.
I call BS. This way of life leads to one place, misery. This mindset damages our health and forces us to waste the best years of our lives.
It’s so easy to lose our way in life and forget about the blessings and abundance we’re surrounded by. Taking people, abundance, good health, or anything that adds value in our lives for granted eventually has the dire consequences of driving them away.
There is great comfort in pausing and taking a moment to feel gratitude for the things that add value in our lives. It attracts more good things to us. Every so often we should remind ourselves how lucky we are to even have the basic necessities, like enough food to eat, clothes, and a warm bed. Many people in this world would be envious to even have that.
Read on...
Chapter Six
It can be so easy to get swept up into a stream of anxiety and worry. We all have deadlines, bills, responsibilities and it’s sometimes difficult to juggle it all. What I’ve discovered is most of this anxiety and worry is completely imagined, caused by faulty perception. Our minds are great conjurers of all sorts of potential calamities that almost never happen. It’s amazing how quickly these feelings of anxiety and worry can be shut down instantly through a very simple shift in mindset.
“Happiness cannot be traveled to, owned, earned, worn or consumed. Happiness is the spiritual experience of living every minute with love, grace, and gratitude.” ~Denis Waitley
Sometimes this state of gratitude happens spontaneously. For example, I was feeling stressed about preparing two books for publication this year and keeping up with my social media and freelance work. There I was, was walking our beagle in the biting, subzero January wind of Minnesota and cursing it. My face was scrunched up, my shoulders tense. Suddenly, an overwhelming warmth washed over me. The only way I can accurately describe it was a general feeling of content. That feeling was, “I am so thankful for my life. I am perfectly happy at this very moment.”
Instantly, the stress and worry melted away and I relaxed. Even the frigid wind didn’t seem so bad. After meditating for nearly a quarter century I realize how vital it is to keep our consciousness in this state of gratitude for as long and as often as we possibly can.
Why is residing in a state of gratitude so important?
First of all, striving to live in a state of gratitude makes us happier. This should be reason enough. Even more importantly, though, when we’re living in this state, we open the floodgates for more positive experiences and abundance to flow into our lives. This is how the subtle energies of our universe work. Like attracts like. You attract to you whatever thoughts and emotions continuously loop in your mind.
This doesn't mean passive acceptance of the bad things in your life but acknowledgement of the good. I repeat, living in gratitude doesn't mean passive acceptance of all things.
If you don’t believe that working to dwell in a state of gratitude for the wonderful things in your life works, I urge you to try it for a week.
There are a few, very simple, exercises called Mantra to help us to quickly ease into this state of gratitude. A Mantra is a sacred practice of repeating certain words or groups of words. These words are sacred to many Hindus and Buddhists and the repetition of them are believed to bring about great blessings and states of enlightenment to the person uttering them either aloud or silently.
Many English speakers who practice the art of mantra repeat the traditional Sanskrit phrases. I don’t do this because I believe having to think about the meaning of the words hinders the intended process. In my personal practice I repeat the English translations of classic Sanskrit mantras. For example, in Sanskrit the mantra, Dhanya Vad translated into English is, “I feel gratitude” and Kritajna Hum means, “I am gratitude.” These two mantras have worked very well for me.
“Give yourself a gift of five minutes of contemplation in awe of everything you see around you. Go outside and turn your attention to the many miracles around you. This five-minute-a-day regimen of appreciation and gratitude will help you to focus your life in awe.” ~Wayne Dyer
Putting It Into Practice
Whenever you feel negative, depressed, or feel like good things are slipping away from your life I urge you to try the following exercise:
Hold your breath for a count of 5; and
Exhale for a count of 7.
Repeat the following mantras until you feel your negative state of mind slip away:
I am gratitude.
I am gratitude.
I feel gratitude.
I feel gratitude.
Another, even easier to remember, mantra is -- "I'm thankful for...." and you can go on to recite anything that you can think of that you're thankful for in your life. Objects of gratitude can be clean air, good health, fresh water, ample food, a pet, a job, a car, a friend or significant other...literally anything.
I’m thankful for…
I’m thankful for…
These mantras are simple enough to easily remember but are very powerful and can be practiced silently anywhere. I particularly like to practice them while walking. There’s something about the rhythmic sound of footsteps that make the recitation of mantra especially effective.
Try these exercises once a day for a week and see how your life changes.
All for now.
With Gratitude,
Eric Vance Walton
Poetry should move us, it should change us, it should glitch our brains, shift our moods to another frequency. Poetry should evoke feelings of melancholy, whimsy, it should remind us what it feels like to be in love, or cause us to think about something in a completely different way. I view poetry, and all art really, as a temporary and fragile bridge between our world and a more pure and refined one. This is a world we could bring into creation if enough of us believed in it. This book is ephemera, destined to end up forgotten, lingering on some dusty shelf or tucked away in a dark attic. Yet the words, they will live on in memory. I hope these words become a part of you, bubble up into your memory when you least expect them to and make you feel a little more alive.
Pick up a copy of Ephemera today on Amazon.
Most of us have experienced a moment of perfect peace at least once in our lives. In these moments we lose ourselves and feel connected to everything. I call these mindful moments. Words can’t describe how complete they make us feel.
These moments are usually fragile, evaporating in seconds. What if there was a way to train your mind to experience more of them? It’s deceptively easy and requires nothing more than a subtle shift in mindset. My new book, Mindful Moments, will teach you to be much more content despite the chaos and imperfect circumstances continuing to unfold around you. Upgrade your life experience today for only $15.99 on Amazon.com.
Let’s Keep In Touch
