Gratitude Always

Aloha Everyone,

Over the last few years, my family and I have had more than their/our fair share of loss: One of my best friends, my best friend's father, my grandfather, my grandmother, then step grandmother passed... Then my father's oldest brother last year, and now my mother's older/oldest sister. All of these losses have gifted me with a shift in perspective and have opened me up in ways that I would not have had without them.

In watching my friends and family pass on through these last few years, I have observed a few things. One is that we never know when it is someone's time to go... Even when we know they are going, we never really know the last time we will see someone. We never know when that last moment will be.

It is of the utmost importance that we be gentle with each other. It is of the utmost importance that not just in those moments when they slip beyond the veil, that we are kind. That we hold them in the highest and purest form of grace, gratitude, love and forgiveness. In these moments just before they cross over, they are being birthed into a new Light, into a new way of being. This, in many ways, is their birthday! We must celebrate their transition and celebrate who they were in this life to us. Before they leave, we must wish them well on their journey and tell them that we love them, that they have enriched our lives, that we are grateful that they have been here and been a part of our lives.

What is most important about this is that we not wait until these last moments, if we are lucky enough to know that last moments are last moments. Every tiny moment of this life counts. Every moment is a moment to choose to see someone as the brilliant spirit that they are, to thank them (if even just mentally) for their contribution in our lives. Every goodbye is a chance to say "I love you" and "thank you for being in my life"... to say "thank you for being you, and for all you have given me just by being you."

All of us enrich each other. Even that guy that cut you off on the freeway... there is something there for us to see, if at the very least it is to see through the illusion and see that maybe they are just having a bad day. That this little piece is not all of them.

What I have expanded upon from these losses is just this: Every one of our days and moments is full of opportunity to see the light in someone - to acknowledge that - and to see beyond anything else that is not that. To allow everyone their own experiences and be in that state of allowing for all things. To know that what anyone else does is their own experience, and hope that it fills them up with joy. To wish everyone well, and to especially be in a state of gratitude for everyone who has been in your life - from the smallest to the-very-center-of-your-heart. This is not a piece of cake sometimes, but it is important to just try and remember... to start to shift to this perspective.

Express to someone your gratitude for them today. Tell them you love them. Acknowledge something that they have contributed to your life. Celebrate them when it comes to mind to do so, and mean it. Come from your heart and see them - who they really are - and the gift that they are to your life.

As my aunt readies herself to pass, I feel the excitement of her next step on a spirit level. I thank her for being the amazing being she is, for being the loving and supporting aunt she has always been, for her kindness, and for everything she took on for everyone around her. I thank her for all that she has been, and wish her the best ever on her journey ahead. I celebrate her life and her love, and I thank you - Maryanne - for who you are.

Love to All,
Holly