A recent incident at my home reminded me how much we take our basic daily support systems for granted. Every day we have immense fortunes right under our noses yet we rarely take notice until they are no longer functional. My little story...
Saturday morning a big back up of sewer fragranced my basement, infiltrating and clogging too many bathroom features. I'll spare you the details but you get the picture.... not pretty. As I patiently waited until the next day to finally have the issue resolved (after too many messages and too few conversations with 14+ plumbers) and not willing to risk further nastiness by using ANY water in the house, it quickly became clear how much I rely on instant access to clean, flowing water. How many times do I turn the faucet on without a thought; to wash my hands, clean veggies for dinner, wash a pot before the cooked food sticks, showering, and toiletry necessities. Yet around the world thousands go without basic plumbing and have to walk miles for daily-use water. Here I am complaining that my water bill has doubled in recent months (still can't figure that one out) when gratitude for the luxury of water being brought into my home with a simple twist of the wrist should be my mantra. Nothing to say about indoor plumbing and all the conveniences that provides. We are lucky!
So it gives thought to what else we take for granted? Cooking and cooling our food with stoves and refrigerators. A vehicle to drive and gas in the tank. A roof over our head that's not made of canvas. Ice cubes in the summer time. Electricity and night lights. Food in our bellies and its abundance everywhere, even on the trees in our yard or street. And don't forget about relationships. How many of those do we take for granted?
And don't forget about our body; teeth, eyes, ears, legs to walk and arms to hold. Or even more of a gift, our breath? We breathe 25,000 times per day but rarely take notice hiccup, have asthma, or something scares us. Can we stop and notice the wonderful, perfect gift that the breath is? Without any instruction whatsoever, the body and breath are perfectly aligned as we breathe in and breathe out over and over and over. Seems pretty simple and basic until we bring an awareness that each breath is a perfect gift, reminding us of the preciousness of our life. Can we honor our life every day by noticing the breath, taking 5-10 minutes to sit quiet with it, to enjoy it, to pay attention to it with deep love and highest gratitude?
At the end of our life, our last breath will be our final gift. Might we notice the many that have come before, the ones we have right now. How would that change our day and what we are grateful for?
With many blessings for peaceful days,
Shanti
Shanti Douglas
Mindfulness & Stress Management Coach
Shanti@8limbsHolisticHealth.com
603.228.9007
Saturday morning a big back up of sewer fragranced my basement, infiltrating and clogging too many bathroom features. I'll spare you the details but you get the picture.... not pretty. As I patiently waited until the next day to finally have the issue resolved (after too many messages and too few conversations with 14+ plumbers) and not willing to risk further nastiness by using ANY water in the house, it quickly became clear how much I rely on instant access to clean, flowing water. How many times do I turn the faucet on without a thought; to wash my hands, clean veggies for dinner, wash a pot before the cooked food sticks, showering, and toiletry necessities. Yet around the world thousands go without basic plumbing and have to walk miles for daily-use water. Here I am complaining that my water bill has doubled in recent months (still can't figure that one out) when gratitude for the luxury of water being brought into my home with a simple twist of the wrist should be my mantra. Nothing to say about indoor plumbing and all the conveniences that provides. We are lucky!
So it gives thought to what else we take for granted? Cooking and cooling our food with stoves and refrigerators. A vehicle to drive and gas in the tank. A roof over our head that's not made of canvas. Ice cubes in the summer time. Electricity and night lights. Food in our bellies and its abundance everywhere, even on the trees in our yard or street. And don't forget about relationships. How many of those do we take for granted?
And don't forget about our body; teeth, eyes, ears, legs to walk and arms to hold. Or even more of a gift, our breath? We breathe 25,000 times per day but rarely take notice hiccup, have asthma, or something scares us. Can we stop and notice the wonderful, perfect gift that the breath is? Without any instruction whatsoever, the body and breath are perfectly aligned as we breathe in and breathe out over and over and over. Seems pretty simple and basic until we bring an awareness that each breath is a perfect gift, reminding us of the preciousness of our life. Can we honor our life every day by noticing the breath, taking 5-10 minutes to sit quiet with it, to enjoy it, to pay attention to it with deep love and highest gratitude?
At the end of our life, our last breath will be our final gift. Might we notice the many that have come before, the ones we have right now. How would that change our day and what we are grateful for?
With many blessings for peaceful days,
Shanti
Shanti Douglas
Mindfulness & Stress Management Coach
Shanti@8limbsHolisticHealth.com
603.228.9007
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