Day 20 - The Highest Love Is Grace “Love is such a deep gratitude. When you are truly in love with life, every breath you take is gratitude.” ― Bryant McGill Today’s meditation shows us how to harness the power of gratitude to guide our spiritual transformation. We are used to relying on our ego mind to make major life choices, but the vision and guidance of our separate self is always constrained by our past and our limited understanding that sees the world in terms of differences. The guiding grace of our higher self is not restricted by the past or our limited knowledge. Grace sees the differences in the world as integrated parts of one wholeness.  We feel this grace personally as a kind of divine love. This loving state of grace connects us, fulfills us, delights us, transforms us, and awakens us to that elevated state of divine consciousness.  Daily Journal 1. Write about a time when you felt transformed by someone’s love. Perhaps you were a child and didn’t even realize it at the time. Think about how that unconditional love and acceptance allowed you to grow in ways you wouldn’t have otherwise. 2. Now, compose a short letter of gratitude to the person who gave you unconditional love, and thank them for showing you the power of grace. 3. List three people you feel are messengers of grace in your life. Describe how you will let them know this. 4. Use this space to reflect further on your experience today. 

Day 22 - Achieving Wholeness “This a wonderful day. I've never seen this one before.” ― Maya Angelou  Today we enjoy a special guided meditation to show us that wholeness isn’t a concept to understand or an idea to believe in. Wholeness is the experiential reality that your life is inextricably connected to everyone and everything else in the universe. There are no sharp boundaries in your consciousness that separate you from universal consciousness. You are that wholeness. Thank you for inviting us to travel this road with you, and may you be a light to the world. Daily Journal 1. Was there any particular experience of gratitude or grace during this course that had a profound transformative effect on you, a kind of “ah-ha” moment? 2. Write the ways in which you feel your life has become more whole since beginning this Meditation Experience. 3. Describe your vision for a life lived in complete grace. 4. Use this space to reflect further on your experience today.

Day 21 - Seeing with the Eyes of the Soul “Living in constant love and gratitude is the essence of spirituality.” – Akemi G In today’s meditation, we learn to see others and the world with the vision of grace and love. We call this "seeing with the eyes of the soul," because when your deepest self recognizes its essence in another person, it experiences love. When your true self sees itself in an object, it experiences beauty. When we see with the eyes of the soul, we find our pure self everywhere. Daily Journal 1. Make a list of people who have a natural habit of seeing situations in a positive light and bringing out the best in the people around them. Describe their qualities – perhaps it comes from their kindness or lightheartedness – and how you might be able to adopt them for yourself. 2. Close your eyes and bring to mind three people you will see throughout your day today. Visualize them as pure light and feel this connection from your soul to their soul. Journal about your experience and set the intention to remember this feeling when you see them today. 3. Take a moment right now to see yourself with the eyes of the soul. See your own inner light as pure and untouched by any difficulty or concern. Write about how this makes you feel. 4. Use this space to reflect further on your experience today.

Day 19 - The Path to Total Transformation “It is only through thanksgiving that I can become myself." ― Kallistos Ware In today’s meditation, we provide the necessary tools of transformation on the path to grace. As we navigate the ups and downs of daily life, with the mix of positive and negative situations at work and home, we need two tools to help us turn our practice of gratitude into a real state of grace: knowledge and experience. Knowledge provides the understanding and vision of how grace manifests, and direct experience gives us the personal validation that makes it real in our lives.  Using the tools knowledge and experience with our practice of gratitude ensures that our path to grace is real and practical. These tools allow us to transmute all of our life experiences, positive or negative, into a genuine life of grace. Daily Journal 1. Write about three times in your life where you felt guided in the right direction, even though you didn’t understand why. Reflect on the wise and loving intelligence behind that guidance. 2. Now describe three times in your life where you suffered a great loss or setback, only to see that this unwelcome experience matured you and made you a wiser and more compassionate person than you were before. 3. Journal about a difficulty you are currently experiencing, and list the possible gifts or positive outcomes that can emerge from it in the future. 4. Use this space to reflect further on your experience today.

Day 18 - The Rewards of the Higher Self “You will never accept gratitude as a solution to your problems, until you have reached acceptance.” ― Shannon L. Alder In today’s meditation, we explore the benefits of living from your higher self. Living from your higher self means your sense of identity is rooted in your inner awareness rather than your separate self, or ego, which is oriented toward objects of perception. The higher self is who we are. It is our self-awareness and so it is always with us. The reward of the higher self is a life liberated from the demands, fears, and limitations of the separate self or ego mind. Practicing gratitude and appreciation helps to keep awareness aligned to the higher self because we remain focused on the unifying and uplifting qualities of consciousness, instead of allowing attention to get trapped in differences. Daily Journal 1. Write about how practicing gratitude has lessened or removed feelings of isolation, stress, under-appreciation, or dissatisfaction in your life. 2. Describe how you feel ego might still be blocking your full expression of gratitude. It could be through feelings of entitlement, envy, selfishness, self-pity, or resentment. 3. Pick one of these ego obstacles to gratitude from Question 2, and list at least two active steps for overcoming it. 4. Use this space to reflect further on your experience today.

Day 17 - Making Grace a Way of Life “All that we have and don't have is a grace.” ― Mac MacKenzie In today’s meditation, we go beyond the mere behavior and attitude of gratitude, and let gratitude and grace become our way of being and living in the world. In the past, feelings of grace may have been rare and fleeting moments. To make grace permanent, we need to establish gratitude as a habit, so it becomes your default mode of relating to others. When gratitude is the natural way you approach life, it is no longer an activity you try to remember to do. Gratitude is simply how you express who you are and how you feel. The practice of gratitude naturally and invisibly becomes a life lived in the state of grace. Daily Journal 1. Looking back over the past few weeks since the beginning of our Meditation Experience, consider how the practice of gratitude has improved the quality of your life. Write about any ways in which it might have brought more trust, love, surrender, kindness, or faith into your daily experience. 2. Write about the most productive acts of gratitude that have increased grace in your life. 3. Now, note one area in which you feel you could improve your practice of gratitude. 4. Use this space to reflect further on your experience today.

Day 16 - The Hidden Secret of Being “Walk as if you are kissing the Earth with your feet.” ― Thích Nhất Hạnh In today’s meditation, we explore how the practice of gratitude reveals the hidden qualities of our awareness: wonder, joy, and beauty. As grace connects us to the hidden truths of Nature, we are really discovering the essence of our expansive liberated self. Gratitude awakens these dormant gifts of our unlimited self and makes them powerful forces of positive change in our lives. As our self expands through gratitude, our concerns, anxieties, and insecurities become small and insignificant, while our experience of joy, freedom, beauty, and compassion continues to grow. Daily Journal 1. Write about something in your environment right now that you are grateful for, but have never fully recognized before. It could be something as simple as the satisfying click of the keys on your keyboard or the effortless way your chair swivels. 2. Remember a time when you were alone in nature, in which you felt unbounded and free. Elaborate on what that experience felt like. 3. Set aside two minutes right now to simply be – no words, no interactions, no activity. Feel your inner self expand, and afterwards write about what this experience was like. 4. Use this space to reflect further on your experience today.

Day 15 - Seeing the Big Picture, Becoming the Big Picture “True wisdom is being able to say 'it is what it is' with a smile of celebratory wonder on your face.” ― Eric Micha'el Leventhal Living in grace is for everyone, not just for those who feel called to a secluded life of prayer and devotion. Grace is everywhere all the time. To fully live in the state of grace only requires that we allow our true self to shine forth.   In today’s meditation, we learn that we attain this state by simply being it, which means we naturally and effortless live an open life of gratitude. That is how we become a complete person. We embody a life in grace by acting from a spirit of generosity and wholeness.  Daily Journal 1. Write the names of anyone you have been more generous and kind toward in the last two weeks, since the beginning of this Meditation Experience. Describe how these situations came to pass. 2. Make a list of three circumstances in your life that you would like to be able to accept or surrender to. Most likely, these will be situations you feel the need to control or be in charge of. Write about how learning to find gratitude in the situation can help you let go or surrender. 3. Now call to mind three experiences in which you were generous or able to surrender, and describe how that felt. 4. Use this space to reflect further on your experience today.

Day 14 - Gratitude Brings Compassion “We are all of one light on this one Earth, and loving humanity makes all the difference.” ― Michelle Cruz-Rosado Today’s meditation shows us how expressing gratitude easily leads to compassion. We all know that to be spiritual we are supposed to be compassionate, but with all the negativity and injustice we see around us, it’s easy for our egos to feel justified being judgmental and critical. However, when you find reasons to feel grateful to someone, you are bridging the gulf of separation between the two of you. You can’t be thankful and resentful at the same time. That connection you feel when you are thankful is your shared humanity – it is the ground of compassion. A compassionate heart is accepting and forgiving not only to others, but to yourself as well.  Daily Journal 1. Write the names of anyone with whom you don’t always see eye to eye with, but would sincerely wish to be kind to. 2. For each person, describe at least one admirable quality you appreciate in them. Let that feeling of appreciation suggest a gesture of kindness you can make to them. 3. For each of these people, write something you share in common and how that can be a bridge of compassion. For example, perhaps you both have an elderly mother you worry about, or share a passion for a particular cause. 4. Use this space to reflect further on your experience today.

Day 13 - Succeeding through Gratitude “Having contentment and gratitude in the present moment is the surest way to achieve success.” ― Bryant McGill When grace guides our thoughts and actions, our success will be fulfilling and meaningful. Today’s meditation shows us how the practice of gratitude can guide our success in an intelligent and compassionate direction. This type of success is different from the ego-driven success which seeks to hold, control, and keep the object of desire as a way to feel better about itself.  However, if your success is driven from gratitude and grace in your heart, then you are connected to your true self and your success always feels complete and fulfilling. Daily Journal 1. State your idea of personal success in terms of inner qualities. For example, characteristics such as self-confidence, truthfulness, integrity, respect, loyalty, inner peace, insight, or creativity. 2. Write about three moments in your life when these qualities were called upon and you showed them. 3. Journal about three situations in the past where you could have better represented these positive qualities. Now, describe what you could have done differently to turn the situation around. This is key for positive change in the future. 4. Use this space to reflect further on your experience today.

Day 12 - Loving with Gratitude “The more grateful we are, the more connected we become to the universe around us.” ― Stephen Richards  Today’s meditation is about divine love, the spiritual grace that supports everyone and everything. This love is always there whether we see it or not. Gratitude, when offered to another person, is really an expression of love. Like all forms of love, gratitude removes the feeling of separation and distance between hearts. It is an affirmation of our common existence.  Gratitude takes us out of our ego self that may be afraid to love because of insecurity, vulnerability, or fear of rejection. When we learn to feel gratitude with a full heart, we are learning to love unconditionally. Living this divine love is living in grace.  Daily Journal 1. Describe three ways divine love or grace supports your life right now. 2. Write any feelings you may have that suggest a lack of support from divine love. For example, lack of faith, unbelief, skepticism, anxiety, strong negative beliefs, or lack of trust. 3. List active steps towards gratitude you can take to overcome your inner obstacles and resistance to divine love, such as enjoying inspirational poetry or spiritual literature, offering forgiveness to someone, or connecting with a sympathetic believer. 4. Use this space to reflect further on your experience today.

Day 11 - Nature's Generosity Is Waiting “The most fortunate are those who have a wonderful capacity to appreciate again and again, freshly and naively, the basic goods of life, with awe, pleasure, wonder and even ecstasy.” ― Abraham Maslow In today’s meditation, we learn that Nature is always ready to give to us and support us. We only need to open ourselves to that infinite abundance and connect with it. Gratitude is the way we contact Nature’s generosity and bring its support directly into our lives.  This expansive, engaged relationship with Nature reestablishes our mind-body system to its healthy, balanced state. Instead of feeling constricting fear and anxiety, our expansive awareness now blossoms and shares its generosity of spirit. Expanded awareness improves the entire functioning of your body as well, from your cells to your genes. Daily Journal 1. List three things that you would like to have in more abundance. Instead of money or possessions, focus on things that cultivate inner abundance, such as kindness, intimacy, love, affection, appreciation, self-worth, joy, and satisfaction. 2. Moving down your list from Question 1, write one activity for each attribute that will help cultivate that particular kind of inner abundance. For example, you could offer a kind word or compliment to someone you know who needs it, or leave a simple note of appreciation for a loved one. 3. List the names of people that most contribute to your inner abundance. Describe how you can connect with them more often. 4. Use this space to reflect further on your experience today.

Day 10 - Gratitude Expands Every Relationship “Let us be grateful to the people who make us happy; they are the charming gardeners who make our souls blossom.” ― Marcel Proust  In today’s meditation, we explore how gratitude can transform all our relationships. It starts when you express gratitude or appreciation to another person. The transformation begins when you have the thought of gratitude and your brain translates that feeling into beneficial biochemical and neurological changes in your body. The feeling of gratitude also expands the heart, which has the effect of erasing old grievances and soothing resentments and petty differences we may have been holding onto.  Gratitude is wonderful in that it gives these same benefits to the body and heart of the giver as well as the receiver of gratitude. When someone is thanked or appreciated, they generate the same biochemical changes and feel the same expansion and healing of the heart. This back-and-forth flow of grace uplifts and opens every aspect of our relationship with that person. Daily Journal 1. Bring to mind one relationship in your life that is difficult for you to feel appreciation for and would benefit from more gratitude. Describe the challenge or obstacle that makes it difficult to express gratitude towards that particular person. 2. Now, write about the good qualities of that person and relationship that you admire and enjoy. 3. Now, journal about some things you could do with this person that would bring out these positive qualities and make it easier to feel gratitude for them. For example, if you have a family member with a fiery personality who feels calm by the water, take a beach walk with them or spend the day by a pristine lake together. 4. Use this space to reflect further on your experience today.

Day 9 - Changing Your Personal Reality “The thankful heart will find, in every hour, some heavenly blessings.” ― Henry Ward Beecher  Today’s meditation gives us the starting place for transforming reality – our own self. Reality is not an impersonal experience or concept. It is personal, and how we see it and relate to it is a product of our unique history, attitudes, and beliefs. We are unique in who we are, unique in how we see the world, and unique in the reality we experience. The core of our awareness is the source of our beliefs, feelings, and attitudes, and therefore that is the place from which we can change our personal reality. This inner awareness is an ever-present field of possibilities. We always have the possibility or choice for change at any moment. Gratitude is a practice that empowers us in this choice to see the opportunities in our life with fresh eyes. Daily Journal 1. Write about any memories or negative experiences that make it difficult for you to feel gratitude. This list can be as long or as short as you like. 2. Describe any strong physical sensations, feelings, or attitudes associated with each experience from Question 2. These give you clues to the ways and places you may be stuck in the past. 3. Using the list from Question 1 again, journal about one way in which you can begin to move past each experience. For example, if you feel regret over an ended relationship, write about several positive things that have happened in your life since its endpoint. 4. Use this space to reflect further on your experience today.

Day 8 - Gratitude Benefits Mind and Body “There is no prescription for finding moments of gratitude in every day; there is simply the choice.” ― Gillian Deacon  This week we will extend our understanding and experience of gratitude to the mind-body connection. Gratitude is much more than an attitude or mood – it is a powerful positive input to our mind-body system that leads to increased physical and psychological well-being.  Grateful thoughts and meditative states don’t just stay in your mind. Messenger molecules instantly transmit their effects to the body’s 100 trillion cells, creating new brain cells and new pathways and brain patterns. The practice of gratitude has even been found to change our gene expression in a positive direction.  By directing our awareness toward gratitude, our entire mind-body system is automatically oriented toward greater health and balance. Daily Journal 1. List some ways in which you can increase positive input to your brain. For example, by keeping a gratitude journal, performing more random acts of kindness, or increasing the amount of times you say “I love you.” 2. Write about the three main factors that most contribute to negative input in your brain. Be specific. These could be stress, fatigue, lack of sleep, criticism, rejection, or disappointment. 3. Thinking about your list from Question 2, journal about three ways you can reduce negative input to your brain. For example, by getting more rest, performing regular exercise, or spending time with close friends. 4. Use this space to reflect further on your experience today.

Day 7 - Obstacles to Grace Melt Away “To live a life of gratitude is to open our eyes to the countless ways we are supported by the world around us.” ― Gregg Krech In today’s meditation, we look at how grace can dissolve the resistance and obstacles we find in our life. We’ve all had times when we’ve struggled and encountered obstacles. These outer resistances are signals from our true self that there is some inner resistance, which comes from the limiting belief that we are a separate self. These beliefs are often a sense of entitlement, selfishness, or pessimism, and they block the natural flow of gratitude and grace. As we practice gratitude, our perspective expands and we see we are not isolated at all. We are supported by the generosity of the universe in endless ways. Seeing this, our negativity, sense of entitlement, and all obstacles dissolve like morning mist with the rising sun. Daily Journal 1. If you were to choose one thing in your life that you would like to be transformed by grace, what would it be? 2. List three things that add struggle to your daily life, such as stress, overworking, overscheduling, or the demands of family and friends. 3. Taking your list from Question 2, describe how practicing gratitude could help reduce these struggles. 4. Use this space to reflect further on your experience today.

Day 6 - Gratitude Is in the Present “Just be, right now, here; and breathe. Begin to trust the magic of yourself.” ― Nikki Rowe In today’s meditation, we discover how gratitude makes the present moment fully alive, awake, and enriched. We learn how every instant of our life is a unique gift and that when we are awake to this special value of the here and now, we step into a state of grace.  So much of our cultural conditioning pulls us out of the present moment, striving for an impossible ideal in the future. Somewhere outside this present time, we hope to have what we currently lack, or look like what we think we should look like, and feel the happiness we don’t feel now. But this assumes that the present is inherently lacking, and the present is all we ever know. Practicing gratitude turns this around so that we find our completeness in the present moment. Daily Journal 1. At this very moment, stop and look around you, being as present as possible. Describe your experience – what you see, smell, hear, and feel. 2. List three things that often take you out of the present moment, such as minor distractions, interruptions by other people, overwork, fatigue, or old memories. 3. Now, taking your list from Question 2, write about at least three ways you can minimize these things that distract you from being in the present moment. 4. Use this space to reflect further on your experience today.

Day 5 - Gratitude Awakens the True Self “The road to happiness starts with a deep breath and an awareness of the many blessings tied to that single breath.” ― Richelle E. Goodrich We might think that to live in grace requires us to pursue a devout lifestyle and retreat from the world. However, we have learned that grace abides in all things, all places, and all times. If we go beyond our changing personalities to connect with our essential self, we contact this ever-present grace and can live this state of grace even in the everyday world. Our true self is peaceful, but not inert. It is intelligent, powerful, and intimately involved in our every wish and dream. The true self has the creative power and intelligence to direct and manifest your life's journey. When you step into and participate with life from this level, you are always grateful and find grace everywhere. Daily Journal 1. Write about a few ways you can live and speak your truth more often. 2. Of your many selves – work self, family self, public self, intimate self – which one needs to come forward more often? Once you know which self needs to come forward more, note some ways to make this happen. 3. Describe an experience in which you felt fully aligned with your true self – perhaps when you felt fully in the moment and nothing else mattered. How can you create more experiences like this in your life? 4. Use this space to reflect further on your experience today.

Day 4 - Grace Is Replying “The more you are grateful for what you have, the more you can live fully in the present.” ― Dana Arcuri In today's meditation, we explore how gratitude engages us in the evolutionary flow of life. When we offer the world our gratitude, grace responds and completes the circle. Our inner and outer worlds merge into one harmonious flow of existence. As we use our gratitude to join this awakening of joy and beauty around us, we also find that our life becomes easier, more fun, and more meaningful. This nurturing power of grace comes from the source of Being which sustains everyone and everything in the universe. As human beings we can consciously choose to step into this flow of grace to enrich and elevate our lives. Daily Journal 1. Describe an experience or situation that solved itself or became better on its own after you changed your attitude toward it. 2. Write about any signs of grace that have come to you recently, such as an unexpected kindness or moment of joy, a sense of perfection, or a feeling of belonging. 3. Cutting back on duties and demands to spend more time connecting with those you love is a wonderful way to invigorate your energy. List three ways you can renew your energy by appreciating what’s around you. For example, you could take a quiet walk amid the trees, view an art exhibit, or catch up with a dear friend. 4. Use this space to reflect further on your experience today.

Day 3 - Awaken the Energy of Gratitude “Joy is the simplest form of gratitude.” ― Karl Barth In today's meditation, we learn how to recharge our gratitude batteries. If we are tired, upset, or stressed, then our heart is closed and we are not able to feel or express real gratitude. Genuine gratitude comes from a feeling of contentment, safety, and being welcomed in your life – what Buddha called the “gladdened heart.” This natural energy of gratitude is awakened when we meditate. Our intention in meditation is to invite this warm attitude of appreciation into our awareness and perception. With this recharged heart of thankfulness we find reason to be grateful wherever we look. Daily Journal 1. Write about the things in your life that most gladden your heart. These could be as simple as breathing pure mountain air on a hike or feeling the warmth of the morning sun on your cheek. 2. Journal about one of your favorite experiences you’ve shared with a loved one. Describe it in detail, reliving the experience. The more you focus on gratitude, the more you attract similar experiences to be grateful for. 3. Describe the most beautiful thing you saw today and how you felt about it. 4. Use this space to reflect further on your experience today.