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Gratefulness And a Listening Heart
When we are able to see the suffering in him or her, and see that that person is a victim of his own suffering, then it’s easy to forgive.
— Thich Nhat Hanh
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You cannot truly forgive yourself or others as long as you derive your sense of self from the past.
— Eckhart Tolle
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Everything is a gift. The degree to which we are awake to this truth is a measure of our gratefulness. Day and night, gifts keep pelting down on us. If we were aware of this, gratefulness would overwhelm us. But we go through life in a daze.
Eyes see only light, ears hear only sound, but a listening heart perceives meaning. Everything is a gift. Grateful living is a celebration of the universal give-and-take of life, a limitless yes to belonging. A lifetime may not be long enough to attune ourselves fully to the harmony of the universe. But just to become aware that we can resonate with it — that alone can be like waking up from a dream.
…if we are not grateful, then no matter how much we have we will not be happy — because we will always want to have something else or something more.
~ Brother David Steindl-Rast
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