Exploring the Third Reiki Principle – Invoking Gratitude

“What are you Paying Attention to? 

It’s a culturally conditioned habit to sacrifice the present moment, waiting for some elusive future moment.

We can break that habit by focusing on gratitude. Take a time out, laugh, play, breathe, notice the beauty around you, and think of those you love! This moment can be that future perfect moment. It’s all in what we focus on!

Paying attention to what we don’t want can cost a lot! It creates stress and a lack of enjoyment of life.

I’m guilty! I find myself regularly objecting to some aspect of what is occurring (or isn’t occurring) in my life. When I’m in that state (objecting to present circumstances), I’m not in a place of happiness or empowerment, nor do I have as much to give.

It is said that all suffering is resisting what is. IMAGINE for a moment how you would feel if you released all objections and all resistance to anything internal or external that is going on.

As I imagine this, I feel a sense of expansion and peace, which certainly feels much better than frustration and disenchantment (or, as Byron Katie says, it feels better than “arguing with reality”).

“Just for today, be grateful” is one of the five principles of Reiki, as talked about in Reiki Workshops. The founder of Reiki, Mikao Usui, established a set of Reiki principles as a result of the inspired writings of the emperor of Japan at that time, Meijii!

Each of the Reiki principles has a potent meaning. Gratitude, when truly put into practice, can help us shift from discontent and irritability to a state of love and grace where we are noticing abundance instead of lack.

Have you ever had everything in your life exactly as you wanted it? If you did, I’m guessing it didn’t last that long. I’m not trying to burst any bubbles; it’s just fairly accurate to say that having things perfectly arranged doesn’t last long. We almost always think something should be different in our lives (from trivial daily stuff to larger-picture stuff). If instead of focusing on getting all the externals in place, we focus on gratitude and enjoying the ride, we’ll have a much better life experience!

And to me, this is what this Reiki principle is about…it’s about finding a genuine appreciation for the moment as it is and appreciating all that we do have. And when we are present with life just as it is….we enjoy life more and are actually in a better place for creating what we want on the outside. We can be vibrantly alive and actively engaged in changing/creating our lives anew and yet be in a state of grace with life just as it is.

The Reiki principles (complete list of Reiki Principles linked to here) were designed to be a part of the fabric of our daily lives. So I invite you today to invoke this principle of Reiki: “Just for today, I will be grateful,” and then notice how different your day feels.

Wishing you a greater sense of peace, abundance, possibility, and expansion!

Thoughts on Gratitude and Abundance

“Let us rise up and be thankful, for if we didn’t learn a lot today, at least we learned a little, and if we didn’t learn a little, at least we didn’t get sick, and if we got sick, at least we didn’t die; so, let us all be thankful.” – Buddha

“We make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give.” – Winston Churchill

“If only people who worry about their liabilities would think about the riches they do possess, they would stop worrying. Would you sell both your eyes for a million dollars… or your two legs… or your hearing? Add up what you do have, and you’ll find that you won’t sell them for all the gold in the world. The best things in life are yours, if you can appreciate yourself” – Dale Carnegie

“In daily we must see that it is not happiness that makes us grateful, but gratefulness that makes us happy.” – David Steindl-Rast

“When we give of our attention, we give of our soul. One moment of pure attention is worth a pound of gold.” – Lisa

“I thank God for my handicaps for, through them, I have found myself, my work, and my God. – “Helen Keller

“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