Gratitude has always been familiar to me; I’ve been a happy-go-lucky person for most of my life. I’m an optimist by nature! As a longtime student of A Course in Miracles, I consciously choose to be “miracle ready,” which means staying in a state of gratitude and readiness as a daily practice.
It wasn’t until I traveled to India that I understood gratitude on a deep, visceral level. Imagine traveling for more than 30 hours with little sleep, only to arrive at a modest ashram in Mulvu, India. We were assigned to a camp-style dorm room equipped with low metal cots and packed-down futon mattresses. The “shower” was a simple pipe emerging from the wall about two feet off the floor, with a blue plastic bucket beneath a rusty faucet. A dipper cup hung from the bucket’s rim. And yes—there was a small plastic stool on which to crouch while using what was affectionately known as “the bath bucket.” It was clear that warm—let alone hot—showers were not among the amenities.
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