Why All Good?

​Dear Why Team member,
I hope this week’s message finds you living and appreciating the abundance in your life. This week we consider:

​Why be grateful for ALL we are given?

​Nothing fuels more a life of abundance, for ourselves and for others, than being aware of our own abundance. We are all rich beyond belief, so if we are not feeling rich, we need only go beyond our current belief. Of course I don’t only mean financially rich. Any thought that we lack is especially a thought to question. An example is the wheel-chair-bound gentlemen from the post I shared with you a couple of weeks ago. You think he had a reason to feel he lacks? Most likely, but he took what he was left with and seemed to have made the most of it.

Melody Beattie, who’s book Codependent No More, I strongly recommend, defined gratitude as the opportunity to unlock “the fullness of life. It turns what we have into enough, and more. It turns denial into acceptance, chaos to order, confusion to clarity. It can turn a meal into a feast, a house into a home, a stranger into a friend.”

Today, I have been particularly grateful for the journey of my life, all of its ups and downs and for the changes that never end yet have always brought new beginnings and opportunities. And yes, there were times when I disliked the change and even fought against it but, once I was able to lift my head from the “woe is me,” I was able to feel the abundance. I encourage you to do the same.

Poet David Whyte says that a heart being broken is your identity being enlarged. When we resist the changes that are given to us, we can increase and/or prolong our suffering. Seeing and finding the gifts in all things can at times take tremendous effort, but with patience and with time and with a desire to find the richness beyond the painful beliefs, the treasure is all-the-more appreciated.

Reflect on the story of your life. How boring it would be without twists and turns? The Hero’s journey must have its dragons to slay and its valleys in which to persevere. 
Are you thankful for all of it? 
Look at you and what you have accomplished. Consider how you have cared for yourself and carried you through storm after storm. Gratitude for the light is best accomplished after-time spent in the dark. 
It truly is "All Good," we need only the eyes to see and the heart to feel. 
"Don't run away from your vulnerability - it is a robust form of incarnation rather than a weakness." - David Whyte.

Becoming more via hardship- an attitude like this can not only fuel gratitude for the past, but also a courageous embracing of what the unknown future has in store for you. 

Make it a great week,

Steve Luckenbach