A Week of Gratitude - Day 2

For today's list of things I am grateful for, I want to turn inward and look at 3 important things that we all share but don't usually consider much until we are having problems.

Firstly, I am grateful for:

1. My sense of curiosity.  

My overwhelming drive daily is to seek understanding in whatever form it takes, regardless of what activity I find myself engaged in.  Curiosity comes with a desire to solve problems and get to the heart of how things really are, how they work, why they aren't like something else, and why things matter and/or have value.  Related to investigation, exploration and learning it is that basic drive to 'know.'  Without it I wouldn't be who I am, I wouldn't ask the questions I do, wouldn't do the work I do and I wouldn't observe the world around me in the same way that I always have. I wouldn't be drawn to learning new things or examining old ways and practices - and I think this is closely related to imagination and creativity. In reality, I think my sense of curiosity is connected to everything I do.

I didn't choose to be this way so I know nothing else, and find it hard to contemplate a being without such a drive - this might explain my constant search for peace of mind!

I'll have to look into that... :D


Secondly, I am grateful for:

2. The range of emotions I get to experience and feel.  

Now I realize that for most of us emotions are an after-thought, a reaction to events and circumstances happening to us and we take them for granted.  Everyone has them, everyone feels them, and everyone has unique ways of dealing with them and expressing them.

For me I have come to see emotions as a gift, a signal or call to act or think or behave in a certain way depending on the situation.  Beyond the basic pain/pleasure spectrum most of our emotions are a choice, though we don't usually think of them that way, but once we learn to see them in that light, they can be used to serve us rather than us serving them.  This is key if we want to feel like we have control over how we feel vs blaming everything around us for affecting our mood and our attitude.  Choosing how to interpret the meaning of your emotions is key.  Choosing to focus on the positives in a situation vs the negatives is as well.

The range of emotions we can feel is pretty vast, and the subtle nuances between some of them can really indicate what is driving us at any particular point in time. They are a feedback of how I am interacting with the world and constantly provide a source of information for me to process and decide whether to act on the information or stay the course.  But in order to have control over the emotional feedback you have to be paying attention to the signals or focussing on them at some level to be aware that you are receiving them.  Then you have to know that you have a choice how to react, and trust that you can choose.  But it isn't easy.  Too much focus (or stubbornness) on getting something done, or being tired or run down, too many demands on my time and attention can quickly sink me back into reactionary mode vs choosing how to feel about something.  It's a lesson I constantly keep reminding myself to practice.  But I am grateful that I have that opportunity.


And this leads directly into my third item to choose to be grateful for today:

3. My 5 basic senses.

In order to feel anything, we have to be aware of something.  Pretty basic stuff, but also pretty deep if you stop and think about that simple statement, because at the heart of feeling anything at all, is an understanding that it is directly related to whatever it is you are being aware of; whatever it is you are focussing on.  So it follows that if you change your focus you will change what and how you are feeling.  Unless we're talking headaches and reactive type pain - but even then, I'm convinced that if you can shift your focus enough you can negate or distract yourself from some of that 'pain' feedback.

Or drink more rum.  Whichever.

But seriously - feeling boils down to being aware of something, and that is where the 5 basic senses come in.  Yes I know science has identified a boat-load of more basic senses, but I am talking strictly the Big 5. Sight, Sound, Smell, Taste, and Touch.  These are the immediate ways we take in information around us and all 5 are sending feedback to us constantly, allowing us to choose our focus and react accordingly.

If you've ever lost one of your 5 basic senses for any length of time, you know how important that sense is.  Like when you're sick and stuffed up and can't smell things properly, or if you've always had to wear glasses and decided to have corrective surgery - suddenly the world is a different place!  Colors, sounds, tastes, textures.  The world would be a very dull, lifeless place without being able to sense these differences and qualities.  Eating would be a chore if everything tasted the same.  Music would be pointless.  Communication impossible.

Not everyone has all 5.  And that's not fair. And more to the point that's why I am grateful for my 5 main senses and everything they allow me to experience and discover constantly.


Tomorrow I think I'll look outward a bit for my next 3 choices.