A prayer from this beautiful TED Talk will be in my heart this year: “May everyone I meet be blessed by my presence. May my gratitude overflow into blessing all those around me.”

Gratitude and Presence Christmas 2012 with Women of Passion

I am so easily distracted by the many things inviting, calling, demanding my attention.  Inner impulses, ideas, images, thoughts, feelings, possibilities, desires rise up like sparkling jewels promising rich satisfaction if I will but follow their lead.  Emails and text messages, my cute dogs wanting me to play with them or my dear husband requesting my attention, a friend seeking support or a brother calling to chat, unfinished paperwork, a class to prepare, partially read books or my Yoga Journal magazine.  These and so many other good gifts of life pull me in many directions, distracting me from staying fully present in the moment.

My Great Uncle Solanus Casey said that human greatness lies in being faithful to the present moment. He said that if we were to cooperate with the grace being poured out at all times, we’d go from being great sinners one day to being great saints the next.

I am praying that with my cooperation and God’s grace, this may be a year of greater presence and gratitude as I practice and develop my energy regulation skills and teach them to others.

Power is made perfect in weakness.  I will all the more gladly boast of my struggle with dis-tractability that God’s power alone can transform into presence and gratitude.

Thanks be to God ahead of time for a year of presence and gratitude.