Gratitude
I’ve been at the house in Arizona this past week, working at restoring “our sanctuary” after an ungrateful guest abused it. I’ve been floating down the emotional river changing rafts along the way. Anger carried me for a while, bolstering my energetic level so I could scrub, clean up, throw away, cry, shovel, scour, scream.
I asked for help in the moments of overwhelm when I had to switch rafts and drift for a time on sadness playing the “why” story over and over. Why would someone treat another’s home like this, how could someone be so unconscious, housebreak or NOT their Great Dane puppy in my house, leave it unattended or not in my bedroom while it chewed on the bedposts and handmade desk?
Sadness slows the recovery mode so I roused my own sacred self and rowed to shore, leaving the sadness raft and climbing onto a brightly painted gratitude barge. Pushing off into a swifter running flow, I felt buoyed by the faster running river and encouraged by the brightness of the afternoon sun.
Inhaling the fragrance of the wildflowers growing on the banks, I remembered how grateful I am for this house, this place of sacred space and sanctuary.
I remembered that the guest who so disrespected her paid a hefty price for their stay, and I moved into the space this raft of gratitude held for the abundance that guest provided to bring my house back into beauty and calm.
Gratitude changes so much. It raises the vibrations of your being, increases your awareness of light and beauty, softens the heart that wants to harden with perceived betrayal and welcomes the days with joy and thanksgiving.
What I learned from this experience is that as I open my home to traveling guests, I also open myself to new lessons. What I know to be true is that what was “a mess” when I arrived was, with some time and effort, brought back into beauty by calling the right people, asking for help and realizing that it is all just “stuff” that can be fixed, cleaned, repaired or replaced.
I am grateful for the abundance I received that allowed me to do the work that restored the serenity this place holds for my family. And now I have a week in my sparkling clean, renewed and re-blessed sanctuary to write and be.
To enjoy the morning doves, the chubby fat quail, the occasional cardinal and the sweet hummingbirds. I am blessed and I am grateful. I remember the words of the character Henriette (Hen) on the TV series 9-1-1 when she said, “It’s not the trauma that defines us. It’s how we choose to react to it, how we choose to move on.”
Today I have chosen to stay in the flow of that emotional stream and drift on this bright barge of gratitude as I write and edit my way to the finish line encouraged and empowered by the love and beauty I am surrounded by, thankful for the ability to navigate on different rafts when the current gets rough, and always grateful for calmer waters.
May you choose the perfect raft to float through the coming weekend and enjoy the journey, good, bad, or indifferent, it is all those things that happen in between that are the stepping-stones to your dreams fulfilled.
What you carry in your heart defines how you perceive the world, carry Gratitude.
“Get my Free Gift Living An Intentional Life”
Vicki Dobbs is a bold and adventurous warrior walking a path of heart to manifest spirituality in everyday lives. She opens existential gateways for individuals to face their challenges and embrace these tests as the great teachers that they are.
Her goal is to see everyone walk in beauty and balance every day of their lives empowered by the voice of their own authentic truth.
Through Wisdom Evolution and Sacred Wisdom Workshops, Vicki creates opportunities for others to make deep personal changes through experiential classes, ceremony, sacred art and story. She endeavors to inspire others to create their lives intentionally. Vicki is an Inspirator of everyday awareness, an Instigator of spontaneous stories and a Connoisseur of Creativity. Gratitude and grace sprinkled with humility and humor are the medicine she brings to the world.
As an Elder, Teacher and Entrepreneur, Spiritual Coach, Ordained Minister and Crafter of Sacred Art and Tools, Vicki perceives life’s journey as an ever-upward spiraling ascension of the human spirit leading her to wisdom, wholeness and authenticity.
Her experience includes being trained in the Harner Method of Shamanic Counseling and the Pachakuti Mesa Tradition of Cross Cultural Shamanism. She is a Graduate Teacher and Mentor with the Lynn Andrews Center For Sacred Arts and Training and has been the Administrator and Writers Guide for Writing Spirit, the School.
Vicki is also an Artist of the Spirit Certified Spiritual and Energetic Life Coach, a Graduate Mentor in the AoS program and a founding member of HeatherAsh Amara’s Warrior Goddess Leadership Team and Facilitator of the Warrior Heart Practice.
Connect with Vicki here on Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/SacredWisdomTeachings
Vicki Dobbs is a bold and adventurous warrior walking a path of heart to manifest spirituality in everyday lives. She opens existential gateways for individuals to face their challenges and embrace these tests as the great teachers that they are.
