Integrate

As the year begins to wind down, now is a good time to integrate what we gained from all of this year’s experiences–positive or negative. So it’s imperative that we “give thanks” for our positive experiences and then “give thanks” (as well) for the lessons we learned (thus far) from the negative experiences.

Giving thanks brings closure to the past (and its lessons) while anchoring and integrating that for which we are giving thanks. There is one precaution, however, that should be mentioned. Be careful not to give thanks with an attitude of self pity. It is not in our best interest to say I am grateful for even the little I have with an attitude of “woe is me” or even false humility. Instead, the thanks and Gratitude that I am referring to here is one that feels sincere, empowering, and brings a smile to our face.

It’s impossible to experience a True Spiritual Awakening without understanding and applying Gratitude. And when we take a moment to review all that we’ve accomplished at Unity of Sedona, it doesn’t take much to convince us that we have a lot to be grateful for.

When looking over our own personal life, we can learn to feel a lightness in our heart for all of the experiences that we have had, including our past relationships. With a highly developed ATTITUDE OF GRATITUDE we truly multiply how much love and joy we feel towards every-one and every-thing.

Gratitude is very proactive rather than passive. Gratitude demonstrates an attitude of Love rather than fear; acceptance rather than control and resistance; appreciation rather than taking for granted. This all leads us to a more joy-filled life. We actually begin to witness new creations that are progressively easier to give thanks for. In other words, an attitude of Gratitude breeds more Loving, nurturing relationships, a greater sense of Prosperity and Abundance, a healthier body, a greater sense of self-worth and a more consistent connection to God.

This is not to say that challenges do not arise, Quite the contrary! We all experience challenges in our lives. However, we can lighten our load and, in fact, greatly alter the way we perceive it. Even as we learn, more and more, to live a life of Mastery, we might still experience life’s highs and lows, such as communication breakdowns, old issues surfacing, moments of self doubt, etc… Yet, as we develop the use of Gratitude, we also learn to hold a greater vision and focus on trusting our Divinity and continue the forward movement on our path.

At Unity, we plan to integrate and bring many new creations into fruition, including next month’s Sedona Winter Solstice Festival and our many regular and/or one-time events. We also have, coming up, our annual spiritual baptism on Sunday, December 6th. This is available to all attendees and is an incredibly powerful event. Then of course we have some Christmas events planned–followed by our New Year’s services.

And remember, before we can experience Heaven in its totality, we must first experience it here on earth. This is greatly assisted by feeling and expressing Gratitude for each and every aspect of our life.