Remembering Gratitude (For Everything We Assume is There)

As I walked this morning, reflecting on the beauty that surrounded me, my thoughts went to the Philippines and the havoc wreaked by Typhoon Yolanda, as it is called there. My thoughts were not so much about the devastation and lost lives and countless challenges that those who are affected will now have to overcome, but about us - here (wherever here is for us), in our safe little worlds.

I glanced around me at other joggers, dog walkers, exercisers, and saw that so many were lost in a narrow world of iPods and music, or texting messages on mobile phones, or maintaining business conversations on their phones as they walked. Some of those who were accompanied by others, chatting, were very often (when I overheard snatches) complaining, gossiping about, or criticizing others. I asked myself if they were even the slightest bit aware of the beauty that surrounded them.

OK. That sounds harsh and critical and I actually don't mean it to. What I am trying to express is that we take so much for granted, that we forget to be grateful (which implies being present) for all that typically is simply there. We don't think about it. It just is. 

There was a waiter setting up tables in a beach-side restaurant - he, or one of his colleagues is there every time I walk past, doing the very same job - and while I understand that he needs to get his work done in a timely fashion, I noticed that his back was turned to the very beauty that left me so spellbound. I was on the verge of encouraging him to take a look - the views this morning to Africa, Gibraltar, and the Spanish coastline across the Mediterranean were breath-taking - but then I thought he would simply be annoyed, or tell me that he had seen the same view dozens, if not hundreds of time before, and I said nothing.

But see, the thing is, I've also seen the same views dozens, if not hundreds of time before, and I encourage myself to appreciate them anew each time I see them again. If possible, I want to see it as if it were the first time each time.

And lest you think it's so easy, simply because I live in such a spectacular part of the world, filled with awe-inspiring vistas, it's not all gold here either. Just two days ago I was visiting an area where I had to literally oblige myself to hunt for beauty. Why? Because I wanted to. And because I wanted to be able to show myself that beauty can be found everywhere. So I saw beauty in the sun striking the corner of a large abandoned building, I saw beauty in green shoots emerging from a chain-link fence, I saw beauty in a tiny bloom peeping through a crack in broken wall.

Back to the Philippines. They have lost so much more than the natural beauty they might have become accustomed to. Lives have been lost, homes, possessions, safety, and perhaps - even a belief in God.

So let us make up our minds to learn an important lesson as we observe what is happening on the other side of the globe: let's remember to be grateful for all that we take for granted in our daily lives, and let's remember to never take it for granted.

Images: Philippines

Books by Dr. Gabriella Kortsch:

Rewiring the Soul

Click here to download the first chapter.

To see the Table of Contents click here

Reviews From the Back Cover:

"The masterwork of a profoundly gifted healer of the soul. Dazzling, challenging, wondrously useful." Peggy Rubin, Director, Center for Sacred Theatre, Ashland, Oregon; author: To Be and How To Be, Transforming Your Life Through Sacred Theatre

"Rewiring the Soul is one the best introductions to the spiritual life I've ever read. Not esoteric but real-world & practical. The implications are profound." Peter Shepherd; Founder Trans4mind.com; author: Daring To Be Yourself 

"The human being's directory to the soul. A breakthrough for those seeking practical assistance, those of a more mystical bent & every soul awaiting discovery." Toni Petrinovich, Ph.D.; author: The Call: Awakening the Angelic Human

The Tao of Spiritual Partnership

To download the first chapter, click here
To see the Table of Contents click here

Praise for The Tao of Spiritual Partnership

“All humans seek the illusive touch of another's Soul, which opens us to the sense of belonging to something bigger than the self. Dr. Kortsch has given us the true "tao" of relationship in this brilliant exploration of emotional tapestry. We will be grateful for this illumination of spiritual partnership for generations to come."
Chris Griscom: Spiritual Leader, Author (among others) of: Ecstasy is a New Frequency

“Eloquently and comprehensive, showing how your primary love relationship may be a sacred vessel that transports you and your partner to a place of mutual healing and expansion.” 
Robert Schwartz: Author of Your Soul’s Gift: The Healing Power of the Life You Planned Before You Were Born 


The Power of Your Heart: Loving the Self 

My new book: The Power of Your Heart: Loving the Self, is just out. Here is a brief excerpt from the Introduction:

It is your right to live a life of love. It is your right to understand that loving yourself first is not a selfish way of behavior, but one that allows you to live that life of love. However, it's highly probable that you never got the instruction manual explaining exactly how to accomplish this. Possibly your family - and it may have been a loving family - considered loving the self an act of selfishness. Or perhaps the members of your family simply didn't practice loving the self, and of course, what you didn't see - what was not shown to you - while you were growing up, meant that you just didn't learn how to apply it to yourself. The closer you are able to move towards loving yourself, the closer you will be to living a life of love - quite independently of whether you are in a love relationship or not. A life of love can be lived with or without a partnership, because a life of love implies that you know that it all begins with you by loving the self. The more clearly you understand how to love yourself, the more clearly you will see that it is very hard - if not impossible - to love others in ways that are unrelated to fulfilling any of your needs. Loving yourself first is - for so many of us - one of the hardest things we will ever learn how to do. But know this: the benefits affect you in every particle of your being - body, mind, and soul - and are greater than you will ever be able to imagine.