TAKING THINGS FOR GRANTED...or NOT

SUB 'When you change the way you look at things, the things you look at change'.  I remember hearing Wayne Dyer say that many years ago and it really stuck with me.  While I understood the words at the time, I wasn't living it, I only wanted to.

Since arriving back home to Norman Wells, NWT last week, after gypsy'ing around out in the world for a few years (on a journey I chose to take in order to find myself, inner happiness, peace and purpose) I've been feeling elated.  My heart is singing louder than it ever has and I'm just SO happy to be home.  I wasn't sure what to expect really, as so many parts of the 'old' me have fallen away.  I could have come earlier,  however I don't do much these days without guidance from Spirit and I always listen, even if I don't want to.  Through dreamtime, in the not too recent past, I was finally given the green light!!  I always knew this time would come.  Time for me to come back to my beautiful little home town in the Arctic :))  How fitting that it turned out to be my birthday month, and the year I happen to turn 50!  

There's something profound about those milestone birthdays, an awareness of a shift in the lens through which one views life.  Bigger the number gets, the more aware one becomes.  At least that's how it's turned out in my experience.  What I've been noticing most about being home, is how much I'm not taking for granted anymore.  I'm finding pure joy in being surrounded by community and people I love (and I haven't even seen everyone yet!).  The simple things like being here while the fireweed and wild roses are in bloom; walking and sitting on the riverbank; complete silence; midnight sun and breathtaking sunsets; massive open sky for as far as you can see; the mighty Mackenzie River and mountains; and last but not least, dear old friends who have always loved and accepted me, especially when I didn't love and accept myself.

There was a time in my life here, when I took most of those things for granted.  I wasn't able to appreciate them like I do today.  I suppose there's a few reasons for that.  The first being, the absence of these things in my daily life for so long.  The second being, I've aged. The other being, I've changed the way I look at things.

There are memories in every place and every face, forcing me to look back over 30 years of my life here.  It's so clear to me now, how unhappy I was at many points along the way.  I seemed to be able to always find someone or something to complain about at every turn.  I can see now that this had nothing to do with how things 'were', and everything to do with how I looked at things.  It makes me a little sad that I stayed caught up in that way of life for longer than I'd like to admit.  I know there were many years where wild rose season passed me by, I hadn't stepped foot on the riverbank, let alone even notice the 'silence', or a beautiful sunset.  I was too busy being a slave to the life I thought I was 'supposed' to live, instead of living a life led by my heart and soul.  However, had I not lived that part of my life in semi-conformity, there would be no point of comparison really.  

I've noticed over time, my new ability to not take things for granted, has grown stronger.  Choosing to follow Spirit's guidance and live without a steady pay cheque for a few years, has me appreciating a bed to sleep in every night and food to eat.  I used to take those very simple things for granted every day.  As do most people.  To go 'without' for awhile has been a huge blessing in disguise for me.  It's not only taught me extreme faith, it's amped up my ability to be happy with the simple things.  I used to take the ability to buy whatever I needed, totally for granted!  Things that I used to think were 'necessities' (like a hair cut) have become something I no longer take for granted.  

It's interesting how sometimes people, places or a situation needs to be absent from our lives in order for us to learn to appreciate things more.  I'm not sure everyone learns it, but I believe sometimes that's the reason for the absence.  I would think someone who has lost everything in a fire or flood, learns not to take 'things' for granted.  Sometimes when we lose loved ones, we are reminded not to take the people in our lives for granted too.  I'm sure there are a million scenarios we've all lived through, but have we all learned?  Or do we conveniently forget, once circumstances change for the better again?  I guess that's the key really.  Is to not forget that things could be, or have been much worse.

It seems to me, the more one takes for granted, the more one is in the constant state of 'wanting' more or better.  When to change the way one looks at things (not taking things for granted) puts us in a constant state of gratitude for the simple things.

Peace, Love and Appreciation for the simple things!

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