Aurie and gratitude

Aurie sat under her apple tree with her eyes closed. She did the exercise that Noah had shown her the last time they met. She was now very good at quickly concentrating on her breathing and letting it flow from her head to the soles of her feet. It helped her to calm down when she was upset or stressed at school because of an exam. She needed a little more rest to feel her inner energy body. So she sometimes went to the toilet, even when she didn't have to, to concentrate on her energy body and feel herself. Or she sat in a quiet corner in the schoolyard to do her exercise. That gave her energy again and she was then able to cope better even with more stressful days. She was grateful that Noah had shown her this exercise because it helped her regulate her stress much better.

“Gratitude is a good keyword.”

Aurie opened her eyes and saw Noah sitting in the grass in front of her, grinning at her. She immediately felt the deep calm that spread through her when she watched Noah's beaming smile.

"I wanted to talk to you about that today. Because gratitude is another prerequisite if you want to bring your vision to life," explained Noah.

“Do you think I’m not grateful?” Aurie wanted to know.

"Yes, very much so. However, it's about learning to use gratitude consciously and harnessing its energy."

“When I pray with my grandmother in the evening, she always asks me what was good about my day and what I am grateful for,” said Aurie.

“A great ritual. And what does it do to you when you become aware of it again?” she asks Noah.

Aurie thought for a moment. "I think about the day again. And I notice that even on difficult days I always find something to be grateful for. Even if it was "just" cuddling with my mom in the morning or spending time under my apple tree. It doesn't always have to be something great." Aurie was silent for a moment. "I find that it's often the little things that make my day worthwhile at the end."

"Very good, Aurie. That's exactly how it is. It's about seeing the good in each day that life already gives you. Recognizing the abundance that already exists is the basis for further abundance in your life. By consciously perceiving the richness of life around you and acknowledging it with gratitude, you awaken the abundance that lies dormant within you, the pure energy of life."[1] Noah explained to her.

Aurie thought about what Noah had said. "By abundance that is already there, do you mean the little things that I am grateful for and that make my day worthwhile?"

"Exactly. That you can be happy about the sun one day and the rain the next, that you see the beauty of a flower that you come across, that you notice that Paul was kind to you... All of this is abundance that already surrounds you," Noah confirmed.

“It’s a nice feeling,” said Aurie.

“Describe to me the feeling that gratitude triggers in you,” Noah asked.

"It puts a smile on my face and I feel very content. I don't feel like I'm missing anything, even if it's been a difficult day. I notice that I can let go of the resistance to things that I can't change, like the rain. I then feel peaceful inside, even if I wasn't entirely happy with my day." Aurie grinned at Noah. She was happy that she felt more lightness in her life since Noah had explained to her about the resistance and the ego. She still couldn't always let go of the resistance, but she was more aware of it when she was resisting, and then she was able to deal with the situation better.

Noah smiled at Aurie.

"And by meeting life with less resistance, you enter the state of grace that comes from conscious gratitude, and lightness and carefreeness expand within you. You are no longer dependent on things that your mind judges as good or bad. When it rains, it rains."[2]

"Even though I generally prefer the sun," smiled Aurie. "But I also love the glitter in the raindrops when the sun starts to shine again after a storm."

"And this focus is very important, Aurie. If you are consciously grateful for what you already have and what your life is filled with, you will get more of it. If you focus your thoughts on what you are missing, it will lead to you suffering from lack. That is the law of attraction and of giving and taking. You live the feeling of lack, you will experience lack. You live the feeling of abundance and are grateful for what you have, and you will experience abundance. Jesus already said this: "Give, and it will be given to you."

If you feel like the whole world is unkind to you, then start to spread a smile to the world. As soon as you start to give, you can also receive the same. Because you cannot get what you are not willing to give yourself. What you give to the world determines what you get back," Noah explained to her.

Aurie thought about it.

"Does that mean that I can only experience Paul's kindness because I have started to treat him kindly? And because I appreciate the moments with him when he behaves differently?" Aurie asked.

“Yes. That’s the law of give and take,” Noah confirmed.

“There are two important aspects of gratitude that need to be lived daily.

You have already incorporated one of them into your day as a ritual with your grandmother: becoming aware every evening of what you are grateful for in your day.

Of course, you can also be consciously grateful for the moment you experience something great.

If you admire the beauty of a flower: be grateful for it in that moment. If you feel the sun on your skin and dance happily through the garden: be grateful. If you feel the water from the shower on your skin: be grateful. If you had an accident and got off lightly: be grateful that the damage was so minor.

There are many ways to consciously live gratitude.

This also means that you learn to be grateful when you DON'T get something and in hindsight it turns out that it was better that way," explained Noah.

"What do you mean?" cried Aurie. "How can I be grateful for something I didn't get?"

Noah grinned.

“Do you remember, Aurie, how disappointed you were recently because you didn’t get the horse share that you had to drive an hour to get?”

“Of course! That was so stupid!” Aurie complained.

"And then one week later you got an offer for a horse ride right around the corner from you and you can even walk there," Noah reminded her.

“Yes, that’s super awesome!” Aurie beamed.

"You see, Aurie, and that's exactly what you can be thankful for. If the first horse-sharing partner hadn't turned you down, you wouldn't have had the chance to accept the offer from around the corner. It wasn't great at first, but now you've got something much better."

“That’s true.” Aurie became thoughtful.

“And this aspect of gratitude is just as important. It is just often forgotten.

Be thankful that you didn't get the first riding share because it gave you the opportunity to ride around the corner from home," Noah instructed her.

Aurie actually noticed how her resentment over the cancellation of the first horse ride disappeared. Without realizing it, she had harbored resentment against it, even though she had gotten something better in the end. It was good that Noah had made her aware of this!

"The second aspect is," Noah explained after a short pause. You can also think about it in the morning as soon as you get up: What can I be grateful for in my day today? What am I looking forward to?

You will start the day with a completely different energy and it will stay with you throughout the day. Try it out."

Noah paused for a moment and looked at Aurie.

She beamed happily at him. How grateful she was to have met Noah!

"The second aspect that you have to live by every day is this: It is important that you let your abundance and gratitude flow outwards and share this energy," Noah explained.

“What do you mean by that?” Aurie wanted to know more.

“What do you do when you meet strangers?” she asked Noah.

"I always smile at them. I want to share my joy with them," Aurie replied.

"Exactly. You consciously allow your energy to flow to the other person and in doing so you become a giver.

By the way, you are already living part of your vision here.” Noah winked at her as he told her this.

“It is important to ask yourself in every situation: What could I give here? How can I serve the other person? How can I be of use to the other person in this situation?[3]

That could be a smile or holding the door open for someone. It could be that you give someone money. But it could also be that you don't give someone something and thereby help them. For example, with Paul: you tell him very clearly over and over again what you don't think is right. That helps him a lot more than before, when you just kept your resentment towards him quietly inside you."

Aurie was astonished by this. She didn't realize that she could be of use by NOT giving something to others.

Noah grinned. "What people want is not always what is best for them. They often don't consciously think about what it means for them and what effect it has on others. So sometimes it can be helpful not to help.

For example, if you really want to do something yourself, even if it's difficult, and someone else comes along and does it for you because they can do it easier or faster. How do you feel then?"

“I find such things impossible and always get very annoyed about it!” replies Aurie.

"You see. Even if it was well-intentioned, the other person was of no use to you at that moment. That's why it's always important to consciously ask yourself these questions before you do something," Noah explained.

That made sense to Aurie now.

"It is important to give what you can give when it is useful in this situation. Then you live the abundance and pass it on. And by living the abundance, much will flow to you. This is again the law of attraction. Abundance can only come to those who already have it and give it.

Life will then flow with ease. You will meet people in your life, experience things and have everything you need. You will enjoy it and in turn approach things with gratitude.

But you will no longer depend on whether you have something or not. When something is over, you do not live with the feeling of lack, you are not in resistance. Things come and go. That is the cycle of life. But you remain peaceful within yourself, as you said before, even if you may not be happy at a moment."

Aurie replied thoughtfully, "Yes, I understand what you mean. I'm not happy that my girlfriend moved away. But I'm not constantly in a storm anymore since I'm no longer fighting against it. And we have really fun times when we talk on video. That wouldn't be possible if I stayed angry with her just because she's gone. I'm grateful for that." Aurie laughed.

Noah had to laugh.

"Anchor these two aspects of gratitude in your everyday life. Your ritual with your grandmother in the evening of thinking about what you are grateful for in your day is really a great thing! And keep checking: What can I give? How can I be of use to the other person in this situation? Because the cycle of giving and taking always needs to be closed. If you give in abundance, you will also receive with full arms. Keep your eyes on what you have and what you are grateful for."

Noah stood up and pretended to straighten his robe.

Aurie laughed and smiled at him.

"Thank you, Noah, for explaining the meaning of gratitude to me. Now I'm even more excited about my evening ritual with Grandma. And I'm going to try out what it's like to start the day with gratitude in the morning."

“Thank you for your time, dear Aurie.” Noah gave Aurie a funny bow and disappeared.

Aurie happily leaned against her apple tree for a while and had to laugh a few more times at Noah's funny bow. She thought about how grateful she was. And also that she hadn't had to experience a war, for example. "Some things only become clear to you when you realize that they aren't a given," she thought at that moment.

Then she got up and hopped back to the house. She wanted to go into the kitchen to her grandmother, who was baking strawberry cake, give her a big hug and tell her how grateful she was that she was her grandmother.

[1] Eckhart Tolle (2015). A New Earth: A Shift in Consciousness Instead of Self-Destruction. 9th edition. Munich: Arkana Verlag.

[2] Eckhart Tolle (2001). Practising the power of now. A guide to spiritual enlightenment. London: Yellow Kite Books.

[3] Eckhart Tolle (2015). A New Earth: A Shift in Consciousness Instead of Self-Destruction. 9th edition. Munich: Arkana Verlag.

© Sara Hiebl