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Beauty, Gratitude and the Open Heart
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by:
Margaret Paul, Ph.D.
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The
following article is offered for free use in your ezine,
print publication or on your web site, so long as the author resource
box at the end is included. Notification of publication would be
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Title: Beauty, Gratitude and the Open Heart
Author: Margaret Paul, Ph.D.
E-mail: mailto:margaret@innerbonding.com
Copyright: © 2003 by Margaret Paul
Web Address: http://www.innerbonding.com
Word Count: 721
Category: Spiritual Growth
Beauty, Gratitude and the Open Heart
Margaret Paul, Ph.D.
"…beauty on your earth is a shadow of the beauty of our
heaven, and it’s a bitter thing to have a blindness for
beauty on earth, for it makes a longer teaching to see the beauties of
heaven." Spoken by an Irish spirit in the book The Boy who Saw True
(anonymous author).
I have been counseling individuals, couples, families and business
partners for the last 35 years, and am the author of eight published
books. Since my work is spiritually based, I have developed many ways
of helping people open their hearts to love. Opening to beauty is one
of those way.
I have always appreciated beauty. Since I’ve been a small
child, I’ve collect beautiful things - shells, rocks, wood,
as well as works of art, and there are always lots of plants around.
There is nowhere in my environment where there is not something
beautiful to look at, both inside and outside in nature. When I walk
through my home and the land around it, my heart fills with awe and
love as I appreciate the beauty around me. I’ve done this so
automatically throughout my life that it never occurred to me that many
people do not open to beauty nor create beauty around them.
In working with some of my clients struggling to keep their heart open,
I’ve mentioned focusing on an object of beauty, and have been
surprised to find that many of them have no beauty around them - no
plants, flowers, works of art or objects of nature. When they look
around they see walls, appliances, computers and other buildings. Their
left brain functions just fine in this environment, but what about the
right - the creative, intuitive, spiritually-connected aspect?
I want to encourage everyone who reads this to consider feeding your
soul with beauty. There is nothing like awe and gratitude for something
beautiful to open the heart to gratitude in general. If you can love
the intricate design in the bark of a tree, or the vibrancy of a
flower, or the balance of a beautifully thrown piece of pottery - that
might lead you into loving and appreciating the beauty of you and your
own soul. It might open you to feeling gratitude for your life and the
sacred privilege of experiencing your journey on this planet.
How much of your thinking time is spent being upset or unhappy about
something? What if all that time was spent in gratitude for what you
have and for the beauty around you? What if you were present enough in
this moment to revel in the fact that you can turn on a faucet and have
hot water come out? That you have food to eat and a bed to sleep on? If
you are reading this, it is likely that you have a computer, which
means you have more than most of the people on this planet.
Try this little experiment: find something of beauty - it can be as
simple as a leaf, a flower, a photograph, a small work of art or the
top of a tree out your window. Now let yourself completely open to the
thing of beauty. Let yourself feel the beauty in your body - in your
heart, your solar plexus, in your stomach, arms and legs, in your
forehead. Let the beauty enliven your body and fill it with vitality.
Breathe in the beauty and feel your body’s reaction to it.
Open to gratitude, thanking God for this experience of beauty.
Notice the peace and joy it gives you to be in this moment with this
simple object of beauty. What would life be like if you spent more
moments like this, in the present with beauty and with all you have?
How much of your waking time is spent in this way?
Beauty and gratitude are soul foods. When you choose to open to them,
you extend an invitation to love, peace and joy. This raises your
frequency and opens the door to your spiritual Guidance. Your Guidance
is always here for you, helping you on your soul’s journey.
Opening to beauty and gratitude, with a deep intent to learn about what
is loving to you and others, will open you to your spiritual Guidance.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Margaret Paul, Ph.D. is the best-selling author and co-author of eight
books, including "Do I Have To Give Up Me To Be Loved By You?", "Do I
Have To Give Up Me To Be Loved By My Kids?", "Healing Your
Aloneness","Inner Bonding", and "Do I Have To Give Up Me To Be Loved By
God?" Visit her web site for a FREE Inner Bonding course:
http://www.innerbonding.com or mailto:margaret@innerbonding.com
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