When you don’t feel thankful

We’re supposed to feel thankful at Thanksgiving. But what if you just don’t feel it?

Joyous reminders of the holiday seasons ahead may not make you feel any better. The fact is, all those things that are going wrong for you are quite real and cannot simply be ignored, right?

But what if, like me, you’ve just been dead wrong about your problems and frustrations?

Putting conclusions into perspective

If you’re like me, what you see can cause frustration and worry. And the problems you perceive in your life, and all around you, seem to have complete control over you.

The fact is, you may be jumping to conclusions. Here’s the truth about what you have previously labeled “problems”…

First of all, what is the real purpose of this life?

There are mysteries we may never fully understand, but my journey in life has taught me that the purpose of this mortal life is to experience and learn; to live and to learn to feel good. I believe everything we experience here is for our good ultimately; for us to expand our awareness and our ‘feeling state.’ I feel certain that everything has purpose. Clearly, this mortal life is but a tiny blip in eternity.

But don’t take my word for it… read testimonials of near death experiences which corroborate this, now estimated at nearly 16 Million Americans who have visited the other side and lived to tell about it. Read more at www.nderf.org and  www.near-death.com.

Now, if you’re like me, you feel like your frustrations and worries are very real — but that’s only because we’ve been programmed to created false beliefs and expectations that things should always be the way we envision them… that life should be cushy and happy all the time.

But likely, we’ve only forgotten (or have not understood) that the real reason we left perfect peace, abundance, and beauty to experience mortal life, was to learn and experience new levels of feeling good. This requires contrast.

For example, we cannot know what feeling full is if we are never hungry… we cannot know what peace is if there is never war or contention…or the joy of companionship without feeling at least once feeling lonely. Therefore, what you and I often see as “problems” are actually opportunities meant to serve us, teach us, and inspire new creativity in us to help us become wiser.

Frustration and worry, therefore, merely comes from an incorrect understanding of life’s perfect opportunities to learn. With this correct perspective, I can see how I’ve made totally wrong conclusions, and become frustrated or worried. Can you see how you may have done the same?

Avoiding frustration and worry

So, what can we do to avoid the pain of frustration and worry? We can look at the bigger picture…

With perspective of life’s real purpose, we can quickly catch ourselves in those old lies and trust the process of our learning. We can say, “Wow, this must be a perfect lesson for me… can’t wait to see what it will be, but I am confident it is for my good!”

In reality, there is nothing to fear; you are always loved; and you cannot go wrong, because all choices lead to learning. Pretty cool, huh? There’s a bigger picture if you learn to trust.

And as for problems, challenges, and disappointments… well, these are simply born from short-sighted perspective. Yes, even painful and seemingly “terrible” things have great meaning and serve us all on a grander scale — the only scale that will mean anything after this life.

So if you struggle with physical health or personal happiness, what is the lesson in it? You know your physical body is temporary, so does suffering on occasion helps you to feel the great joys in life more fully? For me, it does.

If your finances worry you, then what are you learning?  Do you think you would learn as much being wealthy? You already know you cannot take wealth with you when you pass on, so maybe a temporary financial strain is teaching you something. Remember that the greatest men and women who ever lived were not wealthy, but instead focused on mastering their thoughts and feeling good.

Now is the time to feel good. A healthier, brighter perspective will set you free from false perceptions of frustration, worry, or problems. And that’s something to be thankful for, isn’t it?

To remembering this truth, and feeling good!

Michael Cutler, M.D.

Sources: http://www.nderf.org/NDERF/Research/number_nde_usa.htm