Miracle Monday | Teachings from A Course in Miracles
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Seeing this quote tonight,
reminded me of my favorite question ever:
"What are you grateful for?"
Many moons ago, while visiting San Francisco, I stumbled into a sweet little vegan (& raw food) cafe called, "Cafe Gratitude".
I was so inspired by the beautiful owners, their slogan, & the thought provoking question...
"What are you grateful for?" --
that I came home & immediately changed the greeting on my home answering machine to pose the same question to unsuspecting people who were calling my home residence.
My voice-mail greeting goes a little something like this,
"Hi- Thanks for calling. You've reached the Picone's. We are sorry to have missed your call. Please leave a message after the beep, yadda, yadda, yadda...
+
then out of the blue;
We'd also love to know what you are grateful for. So if you are guided, please leave us a message & include what you are grateful for today..."
I cannot even begin to tell you how many wonderful messages of gratitude that I've been blessed to listen to over the years - all because I made this simple request for people to share with us what they were grateful for.
Even complete and total strangers who might have only been calling randomly, have left the most heartfelt and amazing messages on my answering machine sharing inspiring stories of love, thankfulness, and faith.
Imagine their surprise when they were simply calling to tell me that my dry-cleaning was ready for pickup, or to remind me of an upcoming dental appointment scheduled for the following week, or some other down-to-earth business-type call...only to be greeted with this somewhat strange + unexpected personal request.
Our voice mail recording (almost) ALWAYS stops people in their tracks.
It's especially spectacular when the voice on the other end of the phone leaves a long + rambling message telling me what a horrible day they had been having, or how upset they had been, only to have had a complete shift in awareness + attitude once being asked to focus and name what they are grateful for.
Even our family + friends who call often and on a regular basis, leave us these beautiful messages full of gratitude and grace.
I have sooooo many of these messages saved that truth be told, I have a hard time deleting them to make room for the new ones because they are all so real, raw, and incredibly sweet.
When I saw the picture and read the quote above, my mind was instantly flooded with instant replays of the variety of blessings that I have heard about on my answering machine over the past 4 years.
We all have SO much to be grateful for...
+
many times,
the "miracle" is
just simply being mindful enough
to remember + acknowledge
of all the beautiful blessings
that surround us in any given day.
So,
rather than celebrating + practicing gratitude just because it's "Thanksgiving"
I encourage you to find your own unique way of cultivating a conversation
centered around gratitude...
(ALL YEAR ROUND)
so that you too
can be flooded
with unexpected reminders of the universe's abundant blessings!!
Dare to ask yourself the question,
+
most importantly to others....
"What are YOU grateful for?"
With miracles + magic,
ps. A very special thank you to "Heather Gregory" for providing the picture above + all the lovely goodness she shares daily on Facebook.
"I AM GRATEFUL!!"
