Tuesday Truth: Gratitude, Perspective, and #Firstworldproblems

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Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life. It turns what we have into enough, and more. It turns denial into acceptance, chaos to order, confusion to clarity. It can turn a meal into a feast, a house into a home, a stranger into a friend. Gratitude makes sense of our past, brings peace for today, and creates a vision for tomorrow. 
-Melody Beattie

I've been on a bit of a gratitude kick lately.  Although things are crazy busy and when things get busy I tend to fall apart *slightly,* I still cannot help but be overwhelmed by all that I am lucky enough to have in life.  Sure, I'm stressed out from planning our wedding, but I'm getting to plan a wedding!? And sure, I pulled a muscle in my back (again) from all of my weekend activities, but I had an amazing weekend and was able to be extremely active outside in the gorgeous fall weather! And yes, the next two weeks will be insane as I prepare to leave town for two weeks, but I get to go on vacation--after I get married! My new favorite hashtag is #firstworldproblems because really, when you put most things that upset us on a daily basis into perspective, they're nothing compared to the real problems that people in this world struggle with. 

For instance, a VERY small scale example of this is as follows: Ben and I have started going to two separate grocery stores every Sunday. One for his meat and our produce, and the other for everything else. It's crazy--both are insanely busy at the time we always end up going, which is unnecessarily stressful, we spend twice as much money as we used to, and twice as much time as we wait in both crazy parking lots, crazy lines at both registers, and navigate the crowded aisles at both stores. But really? As I complained about it this past weekend,  blaming Ben for making us go to two stores, and for waiting to go until 6pm instead of 4pm (when I wanted to go!), I couldn't help but think #firstworldproblems. It's crazy that we have two nice grocery stores within a few blocks of each other, that we have a car to drive to them with, that we can afford healthy food--or just food in general (!)--and that we have the time and energy to go to two grocery stores every week. We're very lucky.

On a separate but similar note, this gratitude kick has extended to my body, too, even though it's been kind of messed up (injury-wise) lately. One of my favorite new meditations is the simple "Gratitude for the Body Meditation" from the Book  How to Train a Wild Elephant by Jan Chozen Bays. I used it in my Yoga & Body Image Thesis Presentation last month, and found it to be a very powerful tool for connecting to your body. 
For those who want to try it, it's below:

Start at the top of your body. Rest your awareness in the sensations coming from one body part, such as the eyes. Before you move your attention to another body part, silently say, “Thank you (name body part) for ________.” Leave a blank and see if anything arises in that space. For example, your mind might say, “Thank you, eyes, for seeing things all day long.” It’s okay if nothing arises; just move on to the next body part. Be sure to include body parts that are having difficulty or discomfort.

That's it! You simply move down the body in this manner, thanking each part of the body silently in your mind. I think it's a very profound practice. 

So now it's your turn to mull over these subjects--what are you grateful for today? What have you been stressing out about that could actually be seen as a total blessing in life?  What can you put into perspective by adding #firstworldproblems to your thought pattern or complaints?

I hope that you, too, can find some space for gratitude in your life today. 
There is simply so much to be thankful for... 

Namaste!
Mary Catherine