Sunday is always a great day to reflect on the previous week and to prepare for the upcoming week. It’s a great time to get centered again, spend time in meditation, prayer, or worship.
My wife and I started sharing passages with each other today. We each get to share with the other whatever resonates with us in that moment and from any book or media of our choosing with the intent that it further our spiritual knowledge.
Today’s Sunday Share is about “gratitude offerings” and “do not worry about tomorrow.“
Gratitude Offerings
I read a couple pages from a book that I bought recently called “Spirit Hacking.” The topic I chose was on what the author called “Gratitude Offerings.”
Gratitude is a powerful practice. It may be one of the most powerful practices to maintain happiness and abundance in ones own life. The idea is that, the more grateful you are right now, the more situations you will attract to be grateful for.
With gratitude offerings you’re combining two powerful concepts, selfless giving and gratitude. Giving without expecting anything in return feels really good! You can totally make someone’s day by tipping generously or paying someone a compliment when they least expect it.
“A knower of truth…gives without keeping account.”
Lao-Tzu – 27th Verse of the Tao Te Ching.
(Check out Wayne Dyer’s Change Your Thoughts, Change Your Life! I believe he interprets the concepts in the Tao Te Ching in a manner that is digestible to the average person)
My wife and I enjoy tipping well when we go out to eat. We’ve both worked in service positions before and understand how difficult it can be to please customers. Additionally, it feels really good to be able to give generously.
We figure we’re supporting local business, paying it forward to those around us when we’ve been blessed in our own lives, and generally just making someone’s day with a simple random act of kindness.
The random act of kindness can extend into many other situations, like paying someone a compliment when they least expect it or even just listening attentively when a coworker is talking about their weekend. They say smiles are contagious. Even if you’re not in a good spot to tip, you can always give a great smile to brighten someone’s day.
I also like paying for the car behind you while in the Starbucks drive thru or paying for a service member’s or first responder’s meal. This is living by your inner light. We are all one – help another, help yourself, help the world.
Don’t Worry about Tomorrow
My wife shared the following verse from Matthew 6:34. Jesus said, “So don’t worry about tomorrow. Tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.”
Worrying wastes a great deal of energy, with little, if any, productive gain. Think about this…worry never ran a marathon or rode a horse! Do you want to live your whole life in fear and never experience great things?!
The take away here is that, worrying about a problem does not solve it, but doing something about it does.
I doubt if you look back over all the times that you’ve worried about something that it actually helped. The situation likely either resolved itself or was not nearly as bad as you originally thought. Try and catch yourself the next time you worry. Acknowledge the concern and say, “Thank you…” to the ego, “…for bringing that to my attention.” Then let it go!
Another technique along those lines is to set aside a certain amount of time and at a specific time each day to “worry.” You can worry about anything during this time – really get it all out! However, if you notice that you are worrying outside of your scheduled worry time, stop.
Do not waste any more energy on thoughts that don’t serve you. Instead focus on what you want to happen, not what you don’t want. Visualize the worrisome situation going extremely well or not happening at all. Another “life hack” is to turn fear or anxiety into EXCITEMENT.