It is 5.39 am PST as I write this blog. I’ve been awake since about 3 am thanks to my internal EST clock. I took a few days to get away to a meditation retreat here in Mount Shasta. It is my first time here. Strangely enough, and of course universal conspiracy is at play, I found this retreat on ggole when I was looking for pictures of Mt. Shasta for my face book page. The Blue Marble 4LIFE’s ‘gratitude’ earth marbles are made here in Mt. Shasta by Shasta Visions from recycled glass to conserve the environment and save the trees. The mission at Shasta Visions is also to create PEACE through the sales of their products. How I found out about them is a story for another day.

Anyway, I arrived at Medford airport in Oregon and drove 88 miles. It was different kind of driving, mountain driving for a suburbia girl. I had to force myself to focus on the road as my eyes kept drifting to the landscape that absolutely took my breath away, so fresh and new from the silhouette of buildings and building, and more buildings where I come from. Finally I saw Mt. Shasta. I felt humble appreciation for being allowed to be here and just experiencing this magnificent site.

I thought this morning about deliberate appreciation and making it a habit every single day to feel gratitude and appreciation in our lives every single day.  I heard once a short piece on YouTube from Abraham-Hicks that gratitude and appreciation is different. My understanding from it is that gratitude is an act and appreciation is a state of mind you get into as you carry out that act of being grateful. I guess you cannot appreciate anything unless you are grateful or thankful.  These are just my thoughts.

As I mentioned in my last piece, I have been faced with many challenges and hurdles to jump lately but when I put all of it in perspective, in the third person watching my life, I have to say that I am very fortunate that I am aware of what actually is happening and I have been given the inner strength, the tools and most importantly the grace to handle the situation with calm confidence. It still takes a lot of energy from me as I am still a student in this life journey and I have a lot of learning to do….but…I am still very grateful.

Also, I have been blessed with many connections recently coming my way to expand on how the ‘gratitude’ earth marble can go around the world, and now a good possibility on how I can implement the children’s program ‘Backpack 4LIFE’ into effect. As I said universal conspiracy is at hand and the right people are showing up. The truth of it is like that book called You2 by Price Pritchett states, that quantum leap happens as soon as your vibrational level increases to go to the next level which is not linear climbing but a quantum leap!

So how can you deliberately appreciate your life and everything in it today? Well, just like the words say…make a conscious deliberate decision to appreciate and be thankful for every single thing in your life today that you are able to accept…like the ability to read, to write, to speak, to share….these are all things we take granted for…appreciate them.

Much gratitude

Elizabeth

www.bluemarble4life.com

www.bluemarble4lifegroup.com

Synchronicity….when you are in alignment with the universe this incredible universal conspiracy happens and magic takes place!

The gratitude mania continues with blue angel Sandy Harper preparing to celebrate gratitude in ‘Celebration’ Florida   on Sept 26th 2009. She is also the gratitude boot camp diva living on purpose to reach out and teach people why it is so vital and important to be in this space of absolute thankfulness.

So I know we say let’s feel gratitude and be thankful but let me ask you how we could accomplish it when things are not going our way or when things happen way beyond our control our soul suffers.  This is how I have been feeling for the last few weeks. I felt so pulled down that I could barely keep my chin up during the day without tearing up. I felt helpless, I felt so many emotions and I found myself trying to even block it at moments.  I know I have inner strength so within myself I observed myself and how I was feeling. When you are living your purpose, even when you feel like something happened to bring you down you KNOW that you are supported divinely.  So, I made a very conscious effort to be thankful every day for what I could see as things that were keeping me safe and sound and nurtured. It was an exercise at first of the mind versus the heart. The mind and ego wanted to be mad and angry and just go arrrghhhh…you get the picture. The heart wanted to just say that all this can happen but I have the strength within to handle this crisis and I will get the help from those who are truly my soul friends.  I am happy to report that in the last 3 weeks I faced it, I faced it with grace and amazing calmness and I know it took a lot of inner strength for that today my dear friends I acknowledge appreciation and gratitude to those here in my universe and to God . I know I am still being blessed abundantly through this ordeal.

We all face this every single day in every area of our life. How do we respond or do we re-act and think we have no control.  It is true what many teachers of gratitude say about this feeling place you get into. I feel compassion and humility because it puts things in perspective when I come from that place of gratitude and appreciation. It is a state of being rather than an act of saying ‘thank you’ or ‘gratitude’.

Appreciation….thankfulness….just really being humbly honest in our feeling is very important. I keep saying gratitude is humility awakened and it is…when we appreciate life and its path no matter what it is then we can feel that feeling of humility…it is just simply that I feel…others might disagree. If we can go into our heart and within we will accomplish so much PEACE in this world…

My dear friends out there….when you hold the gratitude marble in your hands, say to yourself  ….

“THE WORLD IS IN MY HANDS, WHAT I DO WITH IT IS UP TO ME”….

Let’s keep that in our heart every single day.

Much gratitude

Elizabeth

www.bluemarble4life.com

www.bluemarble4lifegroup.com

The light from within….

As planned the first gratitudemania took place at VISIONS Restaurant Bethesda, MD on August 24th.
What struck me the most was as each person took a hold of the Peace marble in their hands there was this spark that ignited within them. There were a couple of very nervous individuals who wasn’t sure about being in front of the camera but they stood there in their nervousness and what amazed me was that the words they uttered were so perfect and beautiful. And I know it is because it comes from within, their heart, their soul, and their spirit. There is a connection that occurs as they get into that space of gratitude allows them to say those words.
And it is this very phenomenon that we want to infect into people globally so we can all understand that we have a past to deal with that is filled with many mistakes, but instead of trying to blame and not do anything why not we make an effort to move forward towards a peaceful and positive future.
Yes, there are many others who have this same mission, and this is wonderful, we are just joining that mission so our kids, our future generation can proudly say that we made an effort to hand them down a beautiful earth that can thrive socially and environmentally, not a mess for them to try and figure out. We still have time if we make an effort NOW. So, I hope that each of you who is reading this blog will go into that place within you and join this cause because we all want to make a difference.
Please go to www.bluemarble4life.com and watch the video.

Join the BlueMarble facebook group as well!

 Much gratitude
Elizabeth for the Blue Marble team

To REACH, TEACH and EMPOWER a CHILD….how do we REACH?
July 28, 2009
I received an email from Ryan@mindmovies.com and read about a wonderful mission some wonderful human spirits have embarked on. 3 women are going to help children with dental treatments and other treatments in Uganda http://www.justlikemychild.com/.
It does not matter how you help a child, if it’s in your community, your neighborhood or another country. I just happen to encounter this cause and when it is a children’s cause I pay partciluar attention because this is my life purpose and mission and I believe it is our duty and responsibility to help and support those who are going on our behalf to serve these children.
As you read this please consider helping Puja’s kids, go to this website http://www.justlikemychild.com/ and donate what you can. Select “Puja’s Kids” and click send. Believe me, many, many blessing will come your way.
Have a great rest of the week.
Elizabeth

CIAF workshop

We teach and remind our children to say “thank you” in pursuit to instill in them positive virtues. Many of us are extremely good about conveying the same when in receipt of a gift, a compliment, a positive gesture from those around us. However, in the business and craziness of life I believe that it has just become a lip service. Eye contact for instance is a novelty and taking the time to really appreciate and acknowledge those around us has become cumbersome. Just as the “hellos” and “goodbyes”, the “thank you” is just another word we automatically utter on auto-pilot.

Then there is our ego telling us that it is absolutely sufficient to provide that lip service, after all that is better than what some people do which is to just walk away with the Starbucks coffee or sandwich with an attitude that as a paying customer it is in their right to receive service without acknowledging gratitude to the service provider.

There are many who walk around with a chip on their shoulder determined to put up harsh walls and maybe it is because they feel unacknowledged inside. When I think about what we can do, just little things to heal those around us and emanate joy around us I think of looking into the waitress’s eyes as she brings my lunch and saying to her “Jenny, thank you, that looks really delicious”…or “Justin, thank you for that coffee” as I receive my skim soy latte to go!

Looking into one’s eyes is so very important to acknowledge their presence, it also acknowledges that you are here and now “present” as well. It gives meaning to the other when we say thank you by addressing them by name even if they are just a stranger. After all a stranger is just someone we haven’t met yet… and how many times have we walked into a coffee shop every single day to purchase that cup of coffee from the same person waiting on us never to acknowledge their presence?

When you are awakened to be present in that moment, even if it is just a simple gesture of buying a cup of coffee, and you appreciate the service being provided to you, you will feel a sense of humbleness which automatically makes you say “thank you” from your heart, you make eye contact, and you smile, and you “connect” because the recipient “feels” your gratitude and you acknowledgement with his/her heart as well.

Imagine teaching our children to say gratitude in this manner. Wouldn’t that make a difference? Imagine us adults taking a precious moment and getting off that cell phone and just being present to acknowledge the people around us.

This mother’s day is a perfect time to practice the gift of gratitude from the heart and believe me the flowers and gifts are wonderful but gratitude from your heart will melt your mothers into tears. Acknowledgement and a true sense of “yes I see you and I appreciate you” is something that will warm the heart and fill the soul.

To be in that space of giving gratitude from the heart, we must be in a space of humility and when we do so we will see that giving from this space is easy and fulfills us equally as it is fulfilling for those who receive this gift of gratitude from us.

I dedicate this article to all the mothers on this earth who are often the givers, the teachers, the nurturers, the providers…today I acknowledge you and who you are and would like to thank you for your presence and life. Thank you and may your life be blessed as it is a blessing to others.

Written by Elizabeth Zachariah

Twitter me @Elizabeth_4LIFE