Gratitude as Currency
There’s a popular manifesting franchise (that will remain nameless) that’s made its way into Western culture these days. The idea is that we can direct our energy into creating our own realities, which is true. People do this all the time. One envisions a new business, a happy family, close personal relationships, and they tend to happen. We’re taught from a young age to start thinking about what we “want to be when we grow up” and we’re given the tools to make that a reality. A vision board is now a common tool in offices around North America. A lot of successful people employ vision boards for a variety of purposes. Some people put inspiring quotes, power words, and beautiful scenery. The idea is that there is a constant visual representation of something to motivate you. It’s a fantastic idea.
The problem comes in when we start focusing on specific physical items or wealth, which is a common theme in the franchise I mentioned above. Visualize your new Lamborghini. Put up a picture of your new Lamborghini. You shall have your new Lamborghini.
Okay, great! But at what cost?
Manifesting is free, they say. Somehow, some way, you will either be able to afford to buy your new Lamborghini or one will be gifted to you. The Universe will conspire to make all things happen in your favor and you WILL have that car! You just have to believe that you deserve it!
Not included in this manifesting manual is the fine print on the bottom. It takes karmic energy to make that car appear. Everything in the Universe is balanced. If you direct that energy at a new car, something else gets taken. Sometimes it’s the good karma you’ve obtained by doing good works and thinking good thoughts. Other times, when there is already an excess of bad karma, there is a loss. One may lose a personal relationship, other physical goods, or wealth. Something’s gotta give, as they say.
Along with the cost of the manifestation, there is the karma attached to setting the vision in the first place. A vision board full of enlightening quotes, pictures of people helping other people, and representations of peace and love has positive karma. Creating it has good karma. Other people get a little chunk of good karma when they walk by it. It becomes like a nightlight of positive vibes sitting in the office, dispelling the shadows when no one is looking. On the other hand, there are vision boards created with greed. These will have actual physical items that one craves when greed takes over our consciousness. This board will have a new Lamborghini, a bigger house, a designer handbag. It becomes an alter to worshipping consumer culture and monetary indulgence.
And greed, you see, is bad karma. Bad karma plus bad karma equals bad, bad karma.
But Margie, I don’t believe in karma.
The good news is that you don’t have to believe in gravity for it to hold you to the Earth.
Every single thing in our lives is balanced. Every karmic action we perform has an equal and opposite reaction. If we help someone, we will be helped eventually. If we intentionally cause suffering to someone, we will suffer eventually. Sometimes it happens immediately, and sometimes it takes lifetimes to boomerang back to us. We carry our karmic debit cards with us throughout each life. Some of us are in the red and accumulating fees. Some of us have excess to spare. This is not a religious thing and certainly not exclusively an “Eastern” thing, despite the working title. This is simply universal physics.
The biggest deposit you can continuously transfer to your karmic bank account is made by gratitude. Gratitude, true gratitude, is heavenly currency. I’m not talking about forcing out a “thank you” with a fake smile plastered on your face. I’m talking about the kind of gratitude that warms your heart and brings tears to your eyes. It comes when someone you love performs an act of kindness towards you. It comes when children do something profound. It comes when you’ve been treading water for a long time and someone finally throws you a life preserver. It’s the kind of gratitude that a car showing up in your driveway can’t bring.
This kind of gratitude for even the smallest things, brings great rewards. The best part about this is if we TRULY have gratitude, we aren’t even thinking about what rewards come next. We are in the moment with what we already have. We are being thankful for what already exists. Guess what tends to sneak up in those moments? Something even better. The other option is being on a constant treadmill of dissatisfaction.
When it comes to wealth and physical items, we can’t take them with us. We die, and our estates don’t transfer to the afterlife or our next life. Your favorite handbag doesn’t have a spirit that ascends with you so you can be together forever. However, good works, good intentions, and soul connections stay with us forever.
In that context, I’d like to take a moment to say thank you. There have been incredible gifts given to me lately in the form of kind acts and soul connections. If you’re reading this, I guarantee that I’m talking about you even if we’ve never met. It might have to do with the karma of giving my life in service, or karma from past lives, or I might just have a new increased awareness for the gifts I’ve been given all along. Whatever the reason, I am grateful. I find joy and gratitude in the smallest things these days. The sunset over Lake Ponchartrain. My cats being ridiculous. New friends that I only see for a moment, but I know that I’ll see again. It’s everywhere, all around us. It’s most important, I find, to take the time to look for it. I’d take those three things over a new Lamborghini any day.
My mentor (who I discussed in my last blog) told me to always express gratitude three times - once for the past, once for the present, and once for the future. I don’t know what’s next for me and I dare not ask for anything specific. My guides and the Universe know better than I do. Instead of focusing on one outcome, I give it to the highest and best for everyone involved. So to my loving soul family, I say:
Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.