Mountain Meditation: Gratitude and goodwill grow blessings in life

Mountain Meditation

Marguerite Jill Dye

A dear friend of mine keeps a gratitude journal to write down the good things that transpire—like a heart-to-heart talk with a friendly neighbor, a courteous driver, a fall she avoided. Gratitude grows blessings. It’s a high vibration that attracts the same back to it like a magnet.

When I go for a walk, I like to express the gratitude I feel for my 72-year life. I’ve been given so much, but of course, there have been trials and myriad health challenges that I’ve overcome with the help of healers and grace. For those recoveries, I’m eternally grateful. Those experiences have taught me so much.

To be an artist in Vermont is also a blessing that I treasure. It adds joie de vivre and is thrilling to see the beauty that surrounds us every day — glorious trees that reach up to Heaven with a backdrop of crisp cobalt skies, birds and animals that are enchanting, glistening ice crystals and unique snow flakes, the sun as it rises and sets in technicolor, spectacular landscapes that ever-change, ferns, leaves and flowers in their plethora of colors… These are a few of our visual delights.

Family, friends, and especially our grandkids also fill my heart with contentment and joy. To watch them grow and interact with the world amazes and inspires me to do more. Interacting with children reminds us of the awe and enthusiasm we felt in our youth, then try to regain once we’ve grown up. Fortunately, it is contagious so time with little ones is very well spent.

I feel blessed to be living my life. Sometimes I wonder what I’ve done to deserve it when so many are suffering world wide. Is it Karma or a spin of the wheel that determines our circumstances and place in this world?

It’s always best to treat others with loving kindness and extend a helping hand to people in need. We’ve all been through challenges and troubled times, and can relate to others in cycles of distress. So, whenever we’re in a better place, with improved health and positive vibes, it is the time to touch others’ lives through generosity and caring deeds.

It doesn’t take much energy to share a smile, speak or write encouraging words, reach out to another who’s in a tough spell, and share what we can to lift others up. Giving is a blessing in disguise. Goodwill generates more of the same. It goes out in the world then comes back again. Our words and actions make a difference in creating the world that we all want to live in.

We are all family, not very far back. What happens to another also touches our lives. We are one with humanity, and also connected with all living beings—both animals and Earth elements. This is a truth passed down for eons from the ancients through indigenous peoples. They hold knowledge that dominant cultures and societies have too often forgotten.

Today, I’ll see what I can do to brighten our home life, community, and world. What tiny act might you find to offer to another whom you may encounter?  You have the power to be a blessing in our world.

Marguerite Jill Dye is a writer and artist who divides her time between Vermont and Florida.