Why I’m the luckiest person on the planet, Episode 87
“Come alive with your life. This is the time. We are the people.”–Jean Houston
Long time readers may remember that I wrote a blog series with the above title. In these effusive, unrestrained episodes I detailed why I feel so incredibly blessed. Three years ago, I stopped using that particular title. It didn’t seem quite right. I still consider myself lucky (I got to be the mom of the brilliant, generous, epic Tasman McKay Grout, after all) but the MOST lucky?
I decided to resurrect the title and here’s why.
When you deem yourself lucky, when you commit to noticing beauty above all else, you tune into an unseen vibrational field of love. It’s a different state than the one produced by the mind, the “thinking cap” I nicknamed the asshat in The Course in Miracles Experiment.
This vibrational field that the Hindus and Buddhists call “ananda” permeates everything, but we tend not to notice because, well, the asshat.
The asshat believes its sworn duty is to keep us informed at all times that “something is wrong, something needs to change.”
The consciousness of Ananda (AKA: our inherent joy and light) is given to us by grace and we all (100 percent of us) get it. Most of us don’t see and experience it because we’re hijacked by fear and that pesky little asshat that rarely shuts up. But by living in gratitude—no matter what—you increase the odds of grace getting through.
This was recently demonstrated by my beautiful friend, Cindy Ross. I’ve written about her before. She’s the one I met in South Africa, the one who built her home from scratch, the one who hiked the Appalachian, the Pacific Crest and the Continental Divide Trail, the last with two toddlers in tow. I love her so much and I’ve been meaning to blog about a book she recently wrote and a nonprofit she started to help veterans find acceptance and healing by hiking and generally being soothed and comforted by nature.
On the day before Thanksgiving, Cindy’s husband of 38 years fell off the roof of that log cabin home they built with their bare hands. This robust, handsome, generous man broke three vertebrae, his neck and is currently paralyzed. I say currently because Cindy and Todd refuse to be spoonfed a doctor’s diagnosis and know that anything is possible. But at the moment, everything Todd loved (hiking, making chainsaw art, canoeing) seems rather uncertain. The hiking trip to the Azores Cindy recently invited me on is well, indefinitely postponed.
I wanted to help in some way, but when I reached out, Cindy, once again, ended up inspiring me. She’s not letting the asshat get the best of her. She’s not throwing a pity party. In fact, here’s her mantra:
“This is what I get to do. I am blessed with this privilege. I am called to service.”
I mean, wow! Joyful and appreciative no matter what!
For those so inspired, who might want to get in on this magnificent couple’s energy, here’s their gofundme page.
Equally inspired am I by the wonderful imaginings so many of you posted on last week’s post. Thank you SO MUCH for playing along, for putting your focus on what could be possible if we quit listening to the only source of our suffering: our thoughts and beliefs. Without the asshat singing its woeful tune (oh, it’ll keep singing, but we don’t have to listen), we can do incredible things. Thank you, friends, for being here, for believing in this bigger possibility and for remembering, as my friend Jay advises, “to throw our hands in the air and whoop and holler at this stunning roller coaster ride we’re all on.”
I love you. I’m inspired by you. And I trust you’ll continue imagining new things every day. This is it folks! Our time to come alive. #222 Forever
Pam Grout is the author of 20 books including E-Squared, E-Cubed, Thank & Grow Rich and her latest book, The Course in Miracles Experiment: A Starter Kit for Rewiring Your Mind (And Therefore Your World) that has just been turned into an app. Badass ACIM (badass-acim.com)
