I always try to start mornings with reading or listening to something inspiring, my teacher once said, that it's the most important how you start your day and how you end it , because it sinks into your consciousnesses during the night and it sets the mood for your whole day in the mornings. So, this morning I found an amazing
article by Sally Kempton about the ability to truly receive all the gifts the Universe is offering to us everyday. I enjoyed reading it very much.
"We know about gratitude, of course. We make gratitude lists and write thank you notes to friends, teachers, and others who have helped us or inspired us. But even when we’re expressing gratitude, we often haven’t fully received, taken in, and assimilated the gift. Receiving is a yoga in itself—one that demands a high degree of sensitivity, awareness, and even skillfulness. For one thing, we need to recognize that we’re being given a gift—whether it’s a birthday present, a compliment, a teaching, a helpful piece of feedback, a genuine service, a loving gesture, or a blessing from the invisible realms. Second, we need to cultivate enough stillness and openness to take it in. Third, we need to appreciate it, to value it, or, at the very least, to value the giver’s intention. Fourth, we need to feel that the gift is appropriate to who we are. That means that our inner state has to in some way match the gift. We need to feel that we deserve it, that the gift is neither too much, too little, or too out of line with who we are.
The word “receive” comes from a Latin word recipere, which means “to take back.” This implies that what you receive is already yours, in the sense that you deserve it, or that it completes something in you, or simply that you’ve attracted it by the nature of your being."
"We said earlier that being receptive is a spiritual practice. This is especially important when what you want to receive is wisdom, love, or help from another person or from the subtle world. Sometimes, just reminding yourself to open up to whatever form love takes will let you receive not just the affection that other people are offering you, but the actual grace—the subtle, beneficial energy that pours through the universe. One way to practice this level of receptivity is to take a moment—right now, or any time—to breathe in and imagine that you are taking in the subtle energy, tenderness, and grace from the universe. Or, imagine that your heart is open like a funnel, so that love and energy can pour into it from the atmosphere. Rather than trying to draw in that energy, simply hold your heart open and allow that energy to enter as it will. Another way to practice making space is to try the mudra(hand gesture) of receptivity.
The great power of these four practices is that over time they will begin to seep into your being. By improving your ability to fully receive, you will come to notice how many gifts are being offered to you at every moment. The wind in the trees, a stranger’s smile, the wagging tail of a dog will feel like personal offerings of affection, gifts of beauty and wisdom. Whatever you give back becomes part of that same dance—the dance of giving and receiving, in which we’re all each other’s partners."
"This is the perfect time. Right now.
This is the perfect place. Right here.
This is the perfect person.
This is the perfect gift.
I am a perfect person to receive it."
