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Paying The Gratitude Toll
Accepting the gifts as they are...I often read or hear rants, complaints, wishes and dreams that have a similar theme. A theme that goes something like this:"Here is my dream. Here is what I've been able to do. But I can't seem to get any further! It feels like I've hit a brick wall. And no matter what I do, I can't seem to bring more (customers, jobs, sales, days, money, friends, etc.) in to support the dream. I don't want to give it up, but I feel I might have to, in order to make ends meet. Help!" This is a wicked, difficult situation to be in. But I think I have at least a partial idea on how to move forward. Basically you are hitting a spiritual and emotional brick wall, a very real one. It is what I call the "Gratitude Toll". What is the Gratitude Toll? Read on. Many of us see a dream (a goal) and start doing the things we need to do to achieve it. But often our first successes are anemic weaklings (not surprising, given our inexperienced nature). And do more to antagonize and torture us, when compared to their brilliantly glowing parent-dreams, than to persuade us, that we are on our way. We see how little we have accomplished, and how far we have to go - not only to make our dreams a reality, but just to make the whole process self-supporting and make a litle profit. We wail out and then fling ourselves into the work with desperate abandon - but to no avail. We've hit a wall. Despite our determined efforts, our energetic marketing, our perfectly engineered whatzit - we've professionally designed a website and given our blood, sweat and tears, but nothing progresses. We are suddenly on an escalator that takes us one step back, each time we step forward. We get no further than we already have. WHY? Simple, we haven't paid the Gratitude Toll. The universe is ready to give us anything we want (one way or another), but it reserves the headiest successes for those who recognize those brick walls for the toll booths that they are. The signpost reads that it is time to pay the toll of appreciation. To recognize what we have been given and express our gratitude for our successes, such as they are, then we can move on. Often we think that what we have - a handful of toys we can't sell, a website that gets less traffic than a dead-end road, an idea that no one is buying into, - is hardly worth cheering over. But we must! Express your thanks for any little bit you have gotten. Learn to willingly adopt the attitude that whatever the universe sends your way, however small, deserves thanks and celebration. And, this is the bottomline, learn to accept the fact that not only may this be all you get, but you must learn to be happy with it, should that be the case. "But, I don't want to be happy with just this," you might say. "How can I be? I haven't even paid the bill for the brochures I printed to advertise it...!" The truth of your situation, is THE TRUTH of your situation, but you must be grateful for what you have been given. You must accept it as your gift, totally, before the universe will give you more! Like a child complaining about a not-quite-perfect Christmas gift, the Divine Parent is often loathe to squander the Universe's blessings on those who are unable of being happy with what they already have. When you offer someone an inch, and they are so unhappy about not getting a mile, that they bitch and whine. How likely are you to give them more? Pay your toll. Be grateful and satisfied with what you have. And it has to be real, too - faking it will not bring you to the grace of thankfulness. But do it right and the Universe (seeing a true attitude of gratitude) will deem you worthy of even more blessings. And more. And even more, beyond your wildest dreams of more. Those who get the greatest blessings out of life, are often those who would be - and have been - just as happy with far, far less. (c) Soni Pitts. ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Soni Pitts is the Chief Visionary Butt-Kicker of SoniPitts.Com. She specializes in helping others reclaim "soul proprietorship" in their lives and to begin living the life their Creator always intended for them.
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