Grumble, Grumble

This past week I invented a new word..."Grumbletude". It came about as I was sorting through the mental bombardment which seemed to trigger a realization that I was pulling up a list of grumblings. This list included: things that needed to be accomplished within a narrow time frame; people who said they were going to do something, then didn't do it; fear of not reaching my goals; lack of sufficient sleep...dare I go on?

As I sat musing, the solution began to arise within me to battle "grumbletude". Change it to gratitude. I allowed myself to take a moment to realize that the feelings that were arising were simply part of my processing, my way of recognizing what was in the present moment and honoring it without attaching to it.

The practice of yoga has taught me that in such situations that I have a choice. I can either continue along the path of thinking that my life is full of challenges or I can switch to thinking that my life is full of opportunity. It was incredible to experience this shift. As soon as I recognized the grumbletude dialogue, it was as though my deeper inner voice rapidly shifted to all that was in my life and in that moment to one of gratitude. I explored this process further by seeing gratitude as a vehicle for effecting change. Although I had some hurdles to leap over, so what? These obstacles are simply a way of looking at all that goes into the evolution of a solution.

We become educated to the whole rather than to a singular goal and in this offering is a chance to learn more than maybe we thought possible. If you find yourself in an attitude of grumbletude, notice it as part of being human. And realize that this is the work of our own transformation, of changing how our inner dialogue begins echoing within ourselves and eventually reaches beyond our own physical boundaries into the greater collective. Cultivate an attitude of gratitude. It's a choice we all can make.