“It is a miracle if you can find true friends, and it is a miracle if you have enough food to eat, and it is a miracle if you get to spend your days and evenings doing whatever it is you like to do, and the holiday season – like all the other seasons – is a good time not only to tell stories of miracles, but to think about the miracles in your own life, and to be grateful for them.” ~ Lemony Snicket
The holidays are always an intense time of reflection for me. I think about what’s happened over the course of the year – what went right and where I fell off the tracks. I also consider what I’d like to manifest in my life in the coming year and what I might do to bring those circumstances to life. It often involves a combination of letting some things go, making time, exerting effort in a positive direction, and raising my awareness.
After traveling to India in May, I became hyper-aware of everything in my life that is wonderful and good. I found that if I put more investment into those areas of my life, those gifts multiplied while the unfortunate circumstances of my life that weren’t so joyful began to fall away. I also found that if I focused on the blessings right in front of me rather than always looking so far down the path at what I thought I needed, I enjoyed each day more and that happiness extended over the days ahead, soaking deep into every moment.
There were far more miracles in my life than I realized and to finally realize them felt like a much-welcome and long-overdue relief. I do have true friends. I have my fill of good food to eat. I spend my days and nights engaged in things I like to do. What more could I possibly need? The real miracle is to wake up knowing that I do not lack anything, to understand that I live a life of great abundance.
This miracle is at work every day and my first thought in the morning and my last thought at night is always “thank you, thank you, thank you.” May the same revelations find you this holiday season.
Christa Avampato 