How to Develop a Heart As Big As a House

The Hawaiian word "Ho"omaika'I", means to have a spirit of gratitude and thankfulness. "He'opu halau" means to have a heart as big as a house. This is said of a person who is kind, gracious and hospitable. This quality of loving kindness in encouraged in the Hawaiian culture as a way of expressing aloha or love. During this month of November when we celebrate Thanksgiving, let us remember that thankfulness, kindness and generosity are qualities that are learned, and take patience and practice to develop.

We learn to be grateful as kids when the adults around us talk about thankfulness and why it is important. They may also teach us to write "mahalo" or thank you cards and to express thanks with smiles, hugs and offerings of food. But, we may not have grown up in families that taught us to value developing an attitude of gratitude. The good news is that it is never too late to acquire this skill. We can even learn how to appreciate and express thankfulness when situations seem especially challenging. 

These times of pain that life bring, are often the greatest opportunities for spiritual growth in our lives and in the lives of those we love. Yet, rarely do you hear a person say "Thank you for this loss" or "Thanks for this pain in my life". It is easy to give thanks for the simple things like the sky, ocean, family, friends, having a place to live, and health, but giving thanks for the unexpected hardships that life brings takes a mature soul's perspective.

This response can be learned as an individual nurtures the awakening of their higher self in their life. The shift from being a victim to life circumstances to being a conscious participant in life's drama, is a huge quantum leap in consciousness. To become gratitude for painful soul growth experiences is to recognize that true aliveness comes from embracing all of life, not just the good and easy times. Some of my most profound thankfulness has come, after being shaken awake by the death of a friend. Suddenly just the gift of life is a miracle to be cherished and honored. Anything that I take for granted, becomes valuable when it is lost. To learn to be a true spiritual master upon this plane of suffering and strife is to cultivate an attitude of gratitude regardless of the situation. There is always somebody worse off than you and this perspective can indeed bring humility and grace. Each hardship is an opportunity to grow in faith and love in a divine plan.

With a crisis, there often comes the acceptance that we need to allow or invite help or support from another. Crisis is also an opportunity to become more sensitive to the feelings of others and develop empathy and compassion. We become closer to others through adversities if we are willing to gratefully reach out rather than withdraw when times get tough 

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I can now say that I am grateful for both the good times and the bad times in life. I have learned that the easy flowing periods of life, comfort me when the challenges come. Rather than letting the hurdles stop me from being grateful and trusting in life, I can now say "Thank you". Thank you infinite universe for this opportunity to stretch beyond my known way of being, into a larger perspective. This is the nature of life: to humble and teach us to trust that no matter how things appear there is a lot to be grateful for. 

May your heart be as big as a house, and may you have a very Happy Thanksgiving.

http://ezinearticles.com/?How-to-Develop-a-Heart-As-Big-As-a-House&id=10033157

Ride the Wave: Hawaii 5-0's Surprising Lesson in Thankfulness (By Dr. Noelle Nelson)

Just the other night, I was watching one of my favorite TV shows, "Hawaii 5-0," where one of the main characters featured in that night's episode was a young woman, a veteran, who'd served in Afghanistan, during which time she'd lost both legs. The show was forthright in its brief portrayal of some of the tough challenges such vets can face: depression, falling into substance abuse to alleviate the physical and mental anguish, homelessness.

But the clincher, for me, was to see this young woman, who (in the story) had been a surfing champion before her service, find the courage (with help from one of the show's regulars) to ride the waves again--in her bikini on a board equipped with special hand-holds so she could "stand" proud and true, on the little bit that was left of her upper legs. She was a surfer once again.

I still cry when I think of it. Not only because I think the show is to be commended for its refusal to hide the character's disability, but because it brought home to me vividly, that every one of our lives matter and have meaning. Disabled lives, black lives, vet lives, transgender lives, homeless lives, children's lives, white lives, Native American lives, immigrant lives, and all the other lives too numerous to mention. No matter what label or category you prefer to use to describe yourself ("Other" is my personal favorite), the truth is that all our lives are important.

You matter. You count. You are important. And so is everyone else in your world. In this season, where thankfulness is the order of the day, I want to be thankful for all those in my world. I want to remember, when someone annoys me, or does something differently than I would, or makes me downright mad, that, as my friend Mike Dooley so wisely says: "People are always doing the best they can, with what they've got, from where they are." Regardless of what anyone else thinks of how they're going about things. Those are powerful words to remember.

That includes you, and me. And everyone else. To look at oneself and others as doing the best they can in that moment is humbling. It kicks in my compassion, my patience, and reminds me to try to understand others, rather than knee-jerk into criticism or blame.

And for that, I am deeply, truly thankful.

http://ezinearticles.com/?Ride-the-Wave:-Hawaii-5-0s-Surprising-Lesson-in-Thankfulness&id=9563908

Happiness Is Easily Achieved If You Have Humility and Empathy for Humanity, Unprompted, of Course

Finding ways to be content is easily achieved, especially if you apply humility along with appreciation. In my observation, you gain more satisfaction through the accomplishment of small deeds. When compounded, small deeds, added to the overall scope to be reviewed, provides the most reason for gratitude and thankfulness.

When small deeds and feats get measured collectively, it's the small details that bring major success. For example: Your husband buys pizza for dinner-on his way home from work, unprompted, wow, that's really cool... That is an example of a small deed that rendered major success and appreciation, right ladies? Another example: The service that comes to your home and picks up your recycle items, and old furniture, actually came into your house and picked up the heavy couch and carried it out for you! That was really very kind and helpful! The last time that I checked, I could not carry out a couch by myself- my spouse was at work! That deed really, really made me happy and I was grateful all day!

Can you name a few deeds that you received, or that you did,which brought you a lot of joy or happiness? How about cooking dinner for your retired, next door neighbor? Or, helping a senior citizen pack their groceries into their car? That my friend will probably bring you more heartfelt joy and good karma than even you can expect! Your emotions are through the moon with joy and gratitude! You feel almost as much joy as if you had reaped the benefit from doing something helpful or joyful for another kind, good- natured soul. Just so you are aware and know- there is always a higher road to take to bring joy into the interactions you have with others, during the course of your day!

* It takes just a few minutes or even seconds to lend a helping hand to someone else besides family and friends. ~ Random acts of unprompted kindness is really showcasing your good nature, nobody else notices, but you know that you helped someone- THAT's humanity at its finest! Acting and conducting themselves in kindness, expecting NO reciprocal benefit is truly an unselfish gift! Have you even fathomed that your acts of kindness can have a domino-effect on the energy, and the people in your everyday life? It's true! Children watch what adults do and they tend to mimic or emulate most, if not all of your deeds. Doing kind deeds is a good example for children to see, they may be prompted to want to duplicate, or recreate, even when nobody else is around!~

Random acts of kindness can be done at the drop of a hat. Give someone at the grocery store line, holding one item, your place in line, especially if they are directly behind you... Wouldn't you want for someone else to do the same kind deed for you? When compounded, small deeds, added to the overall scope, of daily living, when reviewed, provides the most reason for gratitude and thankfulness.

http://ezinearticles.com/?Happiness-Is-Easily-Achieved-If-You-Have-Humility-and-Empathy-for-Humanity,-Unprompted,-of-Course&id=9620664

Understanding the Discipline of Gratitude

"In the past I always thought of gratitude as a spontaneous response to the awareness of gifts received, but now I realize that gratitude can also be lived as a discipline. "The discipline of gratitude is the explicit effort to acknowledge that all I am and have is given to me as a gift of love, a gift to be celebrated with joy." (p. 85) 

• Henri J.M. Nouwen (1932-1996) Return of the Prodigal Son

Anyone who has ever resolved to be inwardly happy has entertained gratitude within the court of their heart. But, like happiness itself, gratitude, as a process, is foreign as a concept of habit. We knew to be happy we had to be grateful, but how does one become instinctually grateful, even when we know we ought always to be?

Gratitude does not come naturally upon the human condition. Our default is opposite. We're much rather given to complaint. We're prone to comparison and to compromise.

REALLY ENGAGING WITH GRATITUDE

Some years ago, I had a friend from a distant land who resolved herself to the practice of giving thanks daily. Her practice was a great journey with a community behind it. It made of gratitude an expedition to a serene destination that one could visit any day of choice. It illustrated how to put gratitude into the daily arena of many who followed or contributed to that blog.

Like almost anything good in life, gratitude costs us a great deal in terms of commitment. We cannot just pick and choose to be grateful and hope that it will stick. We need to wed ourselves to it.

We need a covenant relationship with gratitude. We cannot just be occasional lovers. We need to truly esteem her, and give her all our attention, and resolve to be grateful especially when we aren't, for, in that, we'll finally learn what God is sure to teach us. 

Understanding that acquiring gratitude is a discipline is to understand discipline is central to gratitude's acquisition.

But it isn't discipline in any direction that secures us the acquisition of gratitude.

GRATITUDE - OF GIFTS GIVEN IN LOVE TO BE CELEBRATED WITH JOY

This is the nexus of the quote at top. Those words again:

The discipline of gratitude is the explicit effort to acknowledge that all I am and have is given to me as a gift of love, a gift to be celebrated with joy.

The discipline of gratitude is an explicit effort. It's overt. Something very intentional. The effort is put in to acknowledge something first and foremost; a thing that takes precedence over all other devotional activities. What is acknowledged is everything that is part of me and you. Everything. The good and the not-so-good. Every bit. Appreciating everything we've been given - the things we want as well as the things we don't want - is appreciating the Giver. True thankfulness is gratitude. And the output of gratitude is joy.

We can be grateful when we recognise what we've been given as a gift of love. Knowing we've been so richly loved breeds joy in us.

http://ezinearticles.com/?Understanding-the-Discipline-of-Gratitude&id=9613611