The next step after gratitude

Ok - assuming that you all have got your Gratitude Journals going full throttle and have gotten used to writing five things each and every night that happened that day, that you are grateful for -- and so now, what's next?

As a second step in our growth process, towards Enlightenment, let's get to know the dragons that live in the caves, within us. By the dragons I mean our fears, that reside within us. In the beginning it's a slow procedure, but as we keep going, we pick up the pace, and it gets faster and easier to find them.

The easiest way to take inventory is to pay attention to your reactions to whatever is going on in your environment. What are the things others do and say, that make you jump, get mad, be reactive, cause a sick feeling in your tummy, make you feel nauseous, want you to leave from there etc. I'm really, really sorry to have to tell you (because it might be hard to hear) that if and when such a thing happens, hard as this might sound, your reaction is not the other persons's fault, the cause of your reaction is only one -- that at a deep level you have some fear around what was said or done. This then is the best way to begin to understand yourself. Each time something 'unwanted' happens around you, that you feel yourself getting reactive, slow down and take a deep breath; don't give into the temptation to respond; stop the instinctive repartee, and instead as soon as you can, note down somewhere what happened, and how you felt.

Some of you might find it hard to accept this, but the only reason you are reactive is that there is a resonance in you, vis a vis what is said or done to you. It stirs something in you at some level - this itself is proof that there's some unhealed, wounded part of you that gets triggered, and needs to protect itself. The good news is that the more you get to know yourself the greater will be your understanding of these old issues and woundings, and the more the understanding, the better the chances of healing yourself.

I'm reminded of a quote from Maria Rainer Rilke: "There is only one journey. To go inside." For, if you've travelled the world, but can't trace what's within, your travels are not over - they'll never be over. The canyons and the valleys, and the rivers, the oceans, the flatlands, the deserts, the forests within, are awaiting your visit - holding precious treasures to offer you - the treasures of knowledge of who you are, and the gift of you, to yourself. Have you heard: 'You are the one, you've been waiting for!'

Kiki ;-)
P.S. My request to those who 'borrow' from this blog is to please give adequate credit to the source of the borrowed information - whether me, or books and people I quote from. Thank you.