The Gratitude Pool...once in a...

Hello 2010!

With gratitude for so many miracles that got pulled out of aught nine, like rabbits from magicians’ hats, a sigh of relief deep as oceans runs through my being like a freight train that has turned its corner tracks; chugging up steep inclines through snowy, crisp cold alpine passes, now rolling along smoother terrain to mid balance climes; unstoppable in its ahhhhhhhhhhh.

Yesssssss, my soul sings and ‘Thanks Angels !’ is at the heart of my ‘endzone dance.’

Not that I feel I’m anywhere near the fourth quarter end zone. It’s just one of many touchdowns I’ll look back on from Heaven’s vantage point, when I have better vision than these human windows of wide wonder, at how things can turn around just when you think you’re a goner; just when you are convinced that you’re at wits end and no thing will come your way.

I breathe in the wonder and ever green growing gratitude that springs from a well of unending opportunities to have better than I can imagine, when I am forced to spin on the spit of life’s twists until I give up and give in to allowing things to manifest in ways and times far better than I imagined; when I am spent from trying to do it my way or society’s or someone’s way.

It’s then that I get a chance to view everything in and around me from a completely different perspective-albeit that point of view may be flat on the floor.

And when the kicking and screaming stop and I’m wrung out from wrestling with how I see it; how I want it, the it is surprisingly eye-opening…if and, only when, I allow it to coalesce into cleared sight.

This New Year’s Eve, was a blue moon night said to be double the energy of completion and cleansing. The way I saw it written was about more light edging out darkness in this new year; this new decade. I liked the sound of those words especially in light of how much change was wrought and the familiar wrested from us.

It was a bitch of a roller coaster year.

I don’t know many who wouldn’t agree with that on some level.

Losses overwhelmed, grief was at a multi-layered all time high and people got down to just chucking it all. So many hands thrown up in the air made us look like the planet was waving at God. ”Yeah, Big Guy, it’s us down here doin’ the wave and signaling the biggest SOS from stadium Earth.”

Yet, here I sit at 6 in the morning of the first day of the new decade and hope has replaced despondency and feral fear in my heart.

Breathing room seems to be rolling in on an optimistic tide and change wears a new costume, the fabric of which is softer, a bit more flowing and better fitted to new styles of being and doing… a more balanced garment…a one size fits all yet fits each, with room to grow…good for lounging and play as well as appropriate for the office…both day and evening wear for all occasions. Why, it’s the little black dress of the 2-10’s! A must have for all closets.

Back to basics.

Yup. We had to key up our courage, take the hem up, nip in the waist of that sucker and remove the shoulder pads in the jacket …and oh, what a sigh of relief at the end of the refitting to find that we are lighter and more creative; able to move more easily and wear the world like a loose garment.

The I-don’t-wanna-change look became so unwieldy or tattered that wearing it for another season of life became impossible.

The rat race ran out and only the rats won…and even that was was a ‘maybe’ award.

Our human race company had to take on an entirely different mission statement and change its ways of doing business.

And though we’re still digging out, today I have hope. For I am lucky enough to have realized, caved in and changed and am willing to clean, clear, reshape and allow myself and how I am in the world to unfold.

When I’m not fighting the tsunami of change, I can float the currents and find safer haven in ports of call I’d never even dreamed of visiting.

My partnerships are plentiful too. There’s H.P. a power greater than the old company of ‘me, myself and I;’ a host of Angels, Earth and Celestial, who each add their perspectives and talents to the whole and, though there still is a ‘me, myself and I,’ we take a lighter approach to the business of living; allowing a variety of sub contractors to pitch in and bring their best to every endeavor.

In this way; this backing down, stopping cold and allowing room for better than I can imagine to come from what looks like sheer catastrophe, miracles rise up between my eyeballs and slug me like a kid with a gigantic ‘Ha ha!’

OMG! I’m still here after the blizzard of aught nine, after the wipe outs, the bail outs, the chaos, the near not being here at all and the wanting to chuck it all in for real and for good.

Looking back, I see that I got what I asked the Universe for last year…not in ways I thought I wanted; not in safe little boxes of sameness.

No. My greater good came out of the proverbial blue; each one leading and threading one to another; surprising the hell out of me.

I wanted abundance first and foremost – and I meant money.

I wanted healing and perfect health.

I wanted creative projects.

And I figured if I had the first item on that wish list, the rest would follow.

But nooooooo.

What I got was abundance of opportunities to self care, be silent, notice the little things around which brought me joy that didn’t cost a penny and the about face which gave me that scenic view…which led to mind, spirit and body healing…which led to better health, perfect enough for each day…which led to becoming able to consider some superbly creative projects which came my way…which led to actually doing work which makes my heart sing, touches others and gives joy into the world.

Hmmm. Who knows? Perhaps that saying is accurate….’Do what you love and the money will follow.”

What I’m seeing more clearly is that currency comes in many shapes, sizes and forms other than folding cash. Coin of the realm depends upon which realm I’m focusing.

I have abundance of good, nourishing, supportive, unconditionally loving relationships on planet family of choice. Unlimited imagination and a willingness to learn and grow are part of the fabric of my being. Creativity and a desire to be of service in the world stand inside a loving heart and generous spirit and I have faith in all sorts of good appearing at just the right time; in just the right way.

My good this year has come in the miracles of multilayered manifestations where everything is possible when I remove the frame from the picture.

Some listen to me as I process on the way to progress and say, “Miracles, ha.”

I say, “Well, you know when those come around.”

And here we are on the first day of a new decade, after a unique colored, New Year’s eve moon...
for which I'm grateful.

Quote For The Day

"Gratitude is the most exquisite form of courtesy" -- Jacques Maritain

The Gratitude Pool

In a week filled with myriad challenges, gratitude is the calm in the storm; the safe haven to stop and take a breath and give over all to Source and allow Spirit to bring about outcomes far better than I can imagine.
Realizing human shoulders are not always as big as I think they are, is like a cool drink of water on the heat of a desert day.
I'm grateful to let go..even when it is hard living in the leap.
In Light and Love,
Florence

The Gratitude Pool

It's great to be alive and, though on some days I don't feel so, there is some small nugget which catches my soul's eye and calls, "Take me to your heart, I'll fit."

The Gratitude Pool

Who would have thought a full night’s sleep would rate so high on the Richter scale of things most cherished?

Not getting up once to have to pee or rub analgesics on or take a pain pill; wow!

Feeling comfortable in any sleep position without body parts grouching or complaining or keeping zzz’s away until you black out from sheer fatigue: double wow!

Talk about your natural highs; without cliff hanging in any way whatsoever!

And this comes my way after a day of intense spine and neck pain to the point of nausea, after a morning acupuncture session, afternoon grocery shopping and forgetting to eat all day.

I am the most surprised woman on the planet and happily so.

I thank the Angels, Master Healers of the Universe, ancestors and loved ones crossed over and God for any and all help in giving me this most luxurious gift…a full night’s restfull-and I do mean full-sleep.

How sweet it is to stretch in the morning with ease; to feel the softness of sheets and the comfort of bed and pillow; to love my body’s elasticity.

What awe to find that the clock announces 9:30AM instead of 3, 4, 5 and 6AM after gettinginto bed at midnight.

I am so thankful that shift happens!

The Gratitude Pool

I’m grateful today for the tiniest bit of ease.

A breath of cool air in the middle of a non breathable, hot day; the moistness of water as it slakes the dryness of one’s throat; the softness of cotton on the skin; a bit of food to delight the tongue and stem the stomach’s rumblings; the ability to move one’s limbs; a smile; a kind word; rest in safe harbor at the end of the day…all are precious moments of noticing good, like patches of Silver Swords on the slopes of a volcano.

There is enough pain, frustration, disappointment and discomfort pounding down around us in the workplace, home responsibilities, interactions and expectations to cause a giant “Arrgghh!” to rise Heavenward.

They don’t call it the daily grind for nothin’.

The Gratitude Pool

More than time to dip the toe in the pool of gratitude.

I’m so grateful to write online again after 4 months of not being physically able. I’m grateful for rest and replenishment and grateful to have become more acutely aware of the need for balance in the expenditure of that precious commodity-my energy.

I’m grateful for oxygen getting to my brain and brightening my senses and for every physical ability this amazing thing called a body can do—especially healing itself…if only I give it the honor of resting time in which to complete its resetting and restructuring in ways better than I can imagine.

I’m grateful to know also that, no matter what anyone else thinks, I am just perfect wherever I am in the process of healing. There is no “too slow” or “too fast.” There is only perfection in each moment and the less I struggle against what is, the better I go…(or not).

In Light and Love,

Florence

The Gratitude Pool

Oh Spring breezes with out sneezes

Tulips growing

Colors showing

Sunshine glowing

On every living thing

Walking or on wing

Life is on the thrive

It’s good to be alive!

The Gratitude Pool: Taking The Plunge or Getting Submerged?

by Florence Ondré

The challenge to find a grain of gratitude in the middle of your own personal besetting of travails is daunting and yet doable.

Sitting down to write at least one thing I can find in which to be grateful is a snap on the good days and at times when I take a rare glimpse at the nightly newscast. It’s no biggy to feel grateful for the roof over your head and heat in your home while you see so many without one or the other in the middle of subzero temps and blizzards.

Sure, in the face of cataclysms which dwarf your own ills, it’s a hell of a lot easier to get perspective and toss in the towel of temptation to dismiss your own troubles as smaller or no thing to whine about. “Look, at least I have a walker or crutches,” you can say when you see thousands of people dying in a stadium in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina wiped out the very ground of earth, family and way of life. That’s a first level of gratitude expressed from the “Thank God I at least have___!” form of appreciation of what you do have no matter what your daily struggle may be. That’s getting down to the nitty gritty on the fast train.

What I find as laudable and life sustaining is finding gratitude in myself that, though as tiny as an irritating grain of sand in my shoe, may grow into a pebble or a boulder of being grateful for that which stops me in my tracks, makes me reach down to acknowledge the irritant, get grateful that I can actually feel it and be open to what comes next in the Universe’s lesson of awakening awareness in me in that moment.

As I notice that the sand is rolling around under my foot in my shoe, I can be thankful that I have a foot, a shoe, feeling in my extremities, ability to stop, to choose to empty my shoe, drop off the sand in its next area of residence, look and really see what is around me where I’m stopping. Then get grateful for my abilities in what ever state they are, be glad for eyesight (maybe there are beautiful flowers in a nearby garden or strip of concrete or a car coming at breakneck speed to run a light which might have knocked me out of my Earthsuit), sense of smell (perhaps a wind off the ocean brings a clean aroma of nature to brighten my intake of oxygen or a hint of gas that might be leaking invisibly under the street that needs someone to report it for repair). Experiences which if not for the grain of sand in my shoe and my stopping might have otherwise gone unnoticed.

Sometimes, gratitude shows up like today. I’m hurting in more places than I can remember hurting at one time and I’m about to throw a shoe at God, Angels, Universe, whoever’s out there or up there. I’m tired of finding the good in a boatload of crap and wondering what the Hell I could have done to deserve one more freeking health challenge; one more ounce of unleavened ache.

Yeah, I know that is not the question. But today I don’t much give a shit. It’s freezing outside. The heating bill will be astronomical. After 8 years of disability from a spinal injury, leaving me challenged to stand, walk or sit-especially on my left side -with no let up of pain in sight and no help from the medical field; a weird undiagnosed, unsolved mystery glue contamination on every inch of my body, house and grounds for the last 8 months; a spiky pain which appeared in the middle of one night weeks ago in my left toe, which feels like a sliver of glass is in there but has no outward, discernible cause and a now a fractured right foot, I mostly am embarrassed to even tell anyone there’s another catastrophe. I’m left thinking why bother anymore. Who the heck will want to hear another sob story? Who will believe this woman who touts gratitude as a benefit which greases the wheels of life making things easier, better, more positive, is anything but a sham, a bs er, a great big advertisement for anything else but gratitude?

Then, after a good cry or yell, I look outside my window to the backyard where the neighborhood cats are ice-skating and the squirrels are running across the utility wires with big snow balls in their mouths to try to tuck them into their nests in the trees. It's comical. I can’t help but laugh and be grateful I hobbled on my walker, snap crackling and popping from the bubble wrap taped on each hand-hold to try to ease my hands (one of which was fractured years ago and now aches from the daily pressure put on it by having to use crutches or a walker to get around the house). I notice how the dog whips his head up from his bed at the sound of the barrage of tiny explosions of air as the chambers of bubbles burst under my hands. I’ve become my own noisemaker in the party of life.

How could I not notice and laugh at myself, as well as the critters outside? We’re all just doing our best to get through the day, tending to basics. Somehow a bit of humor creeps in to bring a bit of happy to my misery.

And somehow, I feel grateful that I can lighten up. I can have gratitude and griping. The gratitude seems to soften my edges like the laughter lifts my spirit and the cumulative boulders I shoulder become bearable.

Do I want more or wish for things to be different? Yes. When pain is high and I’m caught in a body that finds another way not to work, yes I do with a vengeance of the fibers of my being reaching past shredded limits which scream, “Now! I want my miracle now! Heal me now!” I shriek inside with all manner of negotiating, bargaining about how I’ll do so much good if only I can have back my body that works.

On those days, after embracing my feelings, all of them; messy and unmanageable, I turn my mind to find what I have to be grateful for and treasures emerge around me in lessons of patience with myself, which radiate out as patience with others; a pleasure in accepting the goodness in me which also ripples out; enjoyment of what I can accomplish. Seeing the places where I cannot do for myself becomes dignity for someone else getting to feel good about helping me.

My physical disabilities have brought me the opportunity to meet and interact with angels in the helping professions of western and complementary health care, who stretched their own limits to partner with me in care that was best for me as an individual-not the usual rote. Were it not for my need, I’d never have had the occasion to meet these wonderful caring souls who enriched my path thus far.

Though I want to be healed and healthy again, I’m grateful for those who came into my life in compassion and kindness; who shared their own expertise and skills to enrich my life. They have nourished my being so I can do the same.

They got real with me and acknowledged that what I go through each day is hard and they don't think I’m Typhoid Mary or a magnet for all that is crummy in life. These wonders offset the people who meet my next calamity or loss of physical ability with, “What did you do now?” or “How could you be so dumb as to…?” or the hand wringers who moan and groan, “Oh, no not again…”

Just for today, I choose to be thankful that I’m not hand wringing even though I feel overwhelmed.

Just for today I will not overtax my immune system or energy field with what ifs, if onlys, and whys? My choice is to look at those cats and squirrels and the sun glinting off the ice field covering our neighborhood, to laugh at my own noisemaking and have a party on my couch with a good movie to watch; an interesting book to read; a stack of crackers with cheese and something cool or warm to drink, my meds if I need them, a good partner who loves me and helps me so much, the energy of unconditional love from the dog who plasters himself right up against the legs of my walker to be close to me; quiet and safety in my home; indoor plumbing; a bed and comfy covers for sleeping; electricity; heat and a bouquet of tulips opening slowly in the vase in my window from my honey; calls, e-mails or check-ins from friends who haven’t gotten tired of the same ol same ol and a mind that can still find the pony in a room full of horse pocky.

Meet you at the table on the other side where we can all look back and share our experiences of the many things we enjoyed and learned while here in Schoolroom Earth.

I’m thinking we’re in the advanced class!

The Gratitude Pool

by Florence Ondré


I'm grateful for good friends who can really hear me. I cherish those who can simply say, "Tell me your pain; your struggle. I will hear you with my heart and not judge you or fix you."

I'm blessed with friends who I do not always agree with nor them me and yet they come when I am in need like lemmings who cannot keep themselves from the cry of crashing.

It is like their heart ears are so attuned to my energy that when there is a breach therein, they feel it in its voids or reverberations in the Universe. Their divine sensitivity allows them to sense ripples disturbing my usual positive demeanor and outlook. They hear my heart clenching or closing in on wounds to my spirit and nature and they heed the call; each in their own blessing way.

Perhaps a call or side conversation when we are alone to check in with me and not let me get away without a reality check and a bit of the balm of unconditional love.

They drop their other plans and meet me at restaurants, parks or grottos to be there for me; to listen, to hear and to hold me gently in light.

They check in to see if I'm viewing myself as a victim and remind me with their light of love that I am capable, worthy of good treatment in the world and able to leap tall shadows in as many bounds as is right for me.

They say to their mates, "I know we had plans, dear, but my friend needs me right now. I want to be there for her," in much the same way I say it when it's their turns to need soul food nourishment. The mates don't mind. They have honor for friends who are there in the crunches. By extension, those others become part of a healing team whether they know it or not. They too are part of a circle of unconditional love and healing... a soothing to my soul.

In this circle, we know we each can stand on our own two feet and figure things out for ourselves. We acknowledge and applaud that dignity. We know that no one can walk our paths for us or change our feelings and we also know that we make rough roads a bit smoother to travel by the extending our hands of help in the simple, profound gift of hearing.

I love these sensitives and am blessed to call them friend.

The Gratitude Pool

T-Day behind us and gratitude for leftovers still facing us from the fridge, I'm grateful for each morsel because I don't have to cook or think about cooking -or shopping. I'm just plain grateful to have food and a fridge-period.
With far too many people in the world being without either, it is a blessing to have whatever there is on hand. Having family and good friends to share it with is the real meaning of abundance.
My mother used to tell us as kids, that we should eat everything on our plates because there were kids in Europe who were starving. I did what I was told, brussel sprouts be hanged, but never could figure out how it would help those kids overseas if I downed the green monsters on my plate here in America.
What I got way later on was that was her way of saying, "Be grateful you have something to eat."
I get it Mom. I'm grateful for what I have and, sorry folks, I still don't like brussel sprouts.

The Gratitude Pool: A Grain Of Gratitude

Happy Thanksgiving to you!

May you each and all find one thing for which to be grateful. For on the worst of days, one small bit of gratitude can lift you higher than you can imagine; ease the largest pain and calm the most riotous mind.

Such is the power of a grain of gratitude.

Blessings In Light and Love,

Florence Ondré

The Gratitude Pool

To all the good hearted people who extend warmth of heart and generosity of spirit, I send you the light of gratitude. You uplift us all with your positive energy. Each gesture, smile, hug, or helping hand touches the world.
Blessings.
In Light and Love,
Florence

The Gratitude Pool

I’m grateful for the beauty of seasons and eyes to see Mother Nature’s fit-for-museum-artstry; her splashes of color and ability to change and make infinite art of of our surroundings is a blessing that keeps on giving us unique visions and perception shift opportunities for the eye and ear.

Thanks Mother Nature for your moveable feast for the soul.