Main » 2013 » October » 6 » Beauty, Gratitude and the Open Heart
21:20 Beauty, Gratitude and the Open Heart |
The following article is offered for free use in your ezine,
print
publication or on your web site, so long as the author resource box at
the end is included. Notification of publication would be appreciated.
Title: Beauty, Gratitude and the Open Heart
Author: Margaret Paul, Ph.D.
E-mail: mailto:margaret@innerbonding.com
Copyright: © 2003 by Margaret Paul
Word Count: 721
Category: Spiritual Growth
Beauty, Gratitude and the Open Heart
Margaret Paul, Ph.D.
"…beauty
on your earth is a shadow of the beauty of our heaven, and it’s a
bitter thing to have a blindness for beauty on earth, for it makes a
longer teaching to see the beauties of heaven." Spoken by an Irish
spirit in the book The Boy who Saw True (anonymous author).
I
have been counseling individuals, couples, families and business
partners for the last 35 years, and am the author of eight published
books. Since my work is spiritually based, I have developed many ways of
helping people open their hearts to love. Opening to beauty is one of
those way.
I have always appreciated beauty. Since I’ve been a
small child, I’ve collect beautiful things - shells, rocks, wood, as
well as works of art, and there are always lots of plants around. There
is nowhere in my environment where there is not something beautiful to
look at, both inside and outside in nature. When I walk through my home
and the land around it, my heart fills with awe and love as I appreciate
the beauty around me. I’ve done this so automatically throughout my
life that it never occurred to me that many people do not open to beauty
nor create beauty around them.
In working with some of my
clients struggling to keep their heart open, I’ve mentioned focusing on
an object of beauty, and have been surprised to find that many of them
have no beauty around them - no plants, flowers, works of art or objects
of nature. When they look around they see walls, appliances, computers
and other buildings. Their left brain functions just fine in this
environment, but what about the right - the creative, intuitive,
spiritually-connected aspect?
I want to encourage everyone who
reads this to consider feeding your soul with beauty. There is nothing
like awe and gratitude for something beautiful to open the heart to
gratitude in general. If you can love the intricate design in the bark
of a tree, or the vibrancy of a flower, or the balance of a beautifully
thrown piece of pottery - that might lead you into loving and
appreciating the beauty of you and your own soul. It might open you to
feeling gratitude for your life and the sacred privilege of experiencing
your journey on this planet.
How much of your thinking time is
spent being upset or unhappy about something? What if all that time was
spent in gratitude for what you have and for the beauty around you? What
if you were present enough in this moment to revel in the fact that you
can turn on a faucet and have hot water come out? That you have food to
eat and a bed to sleep on? If you are reading this, it is likely that
you have a computer, which means you have more than most of the people
on this planet.
Try this little experiment: find something of
beauty - it can be as simple as a leaf, a flower, a photograph, a small
work of art or the top of a tree out your window. Now let yourself
completely open to the thing of beauty. Let yourself feel the beauty in
your body - in your heart, your solar plexus, in your stomach, arms and
legs, in your forehead. Let the beauty enliven your body and fill it
with vitality. Breathe in the beauty and feel your body’s reaction to
it. Open to gratitude, thanking God for this experience of beauty.
Notice
the peace and joy it gives you to be in this moment with this simple
object of beauty. What would life be like if you spent more moments like
this, in the present with beauty and with all you have? How much of
your waking time is spent in this way?
Beauty and gratitude are
soul foods. When you choose to open to them, you extend an invitation to
love, peace and joy. This raises your frequency and opens the door to
your spiritual Guidance. Your Guidance is always here for you, helping
you on your soul’s journey. Opening to beauty and gratitude, with a deep
intent to learn about what is loving to you and others, will open you
to your spiritual Guidance.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Margaret Paul, Ph.D. is the best-selling author and co-author of
eight books, including "Do I Have To Give Up Me To Be Loved By You?",
"Do I Have To Give Up Me To Be Loved By My Kids?", "Healing Your
Aloneness","Inner Bonding", and "Do I Have To Give Up Me To Be Loved By
God?" Visit her web site for a FREE Inner Bonding course: mailto:margaret@innerbonding.com http://klopi.info site about bedbugs http://stopklop.com Moscow Desinfection
|
|
Views: 633 |
Added by: adminstrator
| Rating: 0.0/0 |
|
