Now that you’ve identified what you love, it’s a delicious time to welcome a relationship with gratitude into your life. Have you ever noticed that when you choose to be thankful you receive more to be thankful for? Gratitude puts us in a position of having instead of wanting. When I take stock of my blessings, I get more blessings. When I throw bottomless “wanting” out into the universe, the only thing I get back is more wanting. The universe is so kind! Just as with our love list and the power of intention, notice what you do have instead of focusing on what you don’t. Plenty multiplies like horny bunnies, but so does lack. What bunny do you choose?
Look around you. A child’s laughter or your best friend’s funny phone messages, the hot water you used for your shower and the good parking space at Target. The list is endless. Open your eyes. If you see nothing then you’ve been hijacked by your inner sourpuss. This is very serious. Immediately send a SWAT team armed with a fire hose of sunshine to your rescue.
A great way to start this dialogue is with a gratitude journal. My journals are the match to the tinder of my creativity. I chat, pray, and set clear intensions for the universe to work on. As we’ve discussed, the universe loves that. Less stuff for it to figure out!
A written prayer of thanks works like a charm. Instead of “Please make it go away now!” I say, “Thank you for my perfect health, wealth, and happiness.” My life is abundant now; rivers of joy and health flood my inner ashram and fill me with stamina, strength, and amen. Life doesn’t start at the end of the cancer rainbow, it’s happening right now. So don’t waste it, love. Holy growth rodeo! Can you imagine how empowered you could feel if nothing held you back? Acknowledge the scratchy stuff, but don’t let it tear your skin off. That simple shift in perception can transform your life.
Leslie and handsome Pierre
Think about this: What if the cancer disappeared today? Would you be instantly happy? Tell the truth. My sense is that the answer would be no. Most of us build state-of-the-art infrastructure to house our misery. We provide sturdy platforms for doubt, depression, and despair. If the main source of the misery were removed, don’t think for a nanosecond that the self-created support beams would vanish with it.
For me, it’s too overwhelming to focus on the source of my ouchies all the time. Instead I focus on creating a different type of inner support system: changing my diet, being kind to myself, exercising, writing in my gratitude journal, bathing myself with affirmations, getting a massage, creating doable lists and establishing protective boundaries, plus all the other gems in this book.
When you stop feeding and supporting cancer, it can, and sometimes will, collapse. You may wake up one morning and realize that it has been minutes, hours, days, weeks, months, or even years since you thought about it. Brava! You are in control again. You’re doing your work, and the transformation is so bright that we all need Prada sunglasses. Good for you!
I woke up in a meditation about all the people and things I am thankful for today. My dreams of gratitude swirled like a summer storm whistling the tune of “everything’s gonna be all right.” Popped open my peepers and thought I’d host grace in my journal. Thank you, JBEE, for the buckets of bounty. May I continue to see gifts and ignite in others the desire to see their own. Amen and feathers.
After you read this section, grab your coat and speed (at least 75 miles per hour) to your favorite stationery store. If you don’t have one, find one. If you can’t leave the house, go online. If you can’t go online, staple a stack of napkins together. Your mission is to find (or make) the most delicious journal that will inspire you to split open and let it rip! This journal is a no-lies-fly zone. Only reality, truth, and positive words are contained within its pages. You can use this for two purposes only: gratitude and affirmations. You cannot fill these pages with lists, complaints, daily summaries, or spinning wheels. Got it? Note: A groovy pen really helps.
NOW FIND A COMFORTABLE CHAIR, TURN DOWN THE NOISE, AND QUIET YOUR INSIDES.
Light a candle and exhale. Begin to write down a list of things you are grateful for in the present tense, even if they haven’t materialized yet. Feel the love and comfort of already having what you desire. Say thank you for answered prayers as if they have happened. Broadcast healing thoughts and requests to the universe. So often we curse the seeds that didn’t take hold, yet we fail to realize that it wasn’t their season. Two years later you look in the garden and voilà, a red rose. My friend (and righteous babe) Marianne Williamson ends many of her spiritual talks and prayers with the powerful words and so it is. Captain Picard from Star Trek employed a similar tactic when he thundered, “Make it so, Number One.” Make it so.
If and when you spiral into helplessness, grab your gratitude journal and redirect your attention. Take inventory of your wealth instead of validating your poverty. How great do you feel when a person genuinely appreciates the work you’ve done for her? What about when you bust your hump and that wench didn’t even notice? Focus on the work you’ve done for yourself, the work the universe is doing for you right now, and leave room for the magic you don’t even know about.
This exercise will give you an attitude makeover. Commit to doing it regularly. If you do, your life will change. You will not be the same person. Saying thanks will strap you to JBEE’s (Jesus, Buddha, Elvis, Etc.) jumper cables and charge your battery.
I am so grateful that we humans woke up and came to our senses in protection of Mama Earth and all her wee ones. We realized that there is no separation and that our part equals the big-picture whole.
I am grateful that we retracted our knives and instead chose to extend hands of peace to hold our brothers and sisters around the world and especially in the Middle East.
I am grateful that money is silly and that real currency is exchanged with a smile.
I am grateful for parents who taught me I could do anything and a mom who believes in the transformative power of sock monkeys.
I am grateful for a husband who is my best friend.
I am grateful for in-laws who hold grandparent wisdom and notice the birds.
I am grateful that a feather on the ground is a sign that the universe just answered a prayer.
I am grateful for the opportunity to serve.
I am grateful for fantastic bowel movements!
I am grateful for my friends and for the people I don’t like so much because they remind me to release my attachment to simple thinking.
I am grateful for my kitty.
I am grateful for all the blessings in my life, and I am proud of myself for actually seeing and acknowledging them.
I am grateful for each of you, all the CanSer Cowgirls and dudes who are seekers of truth, health, and real-deal happiness.
