Gratitude it's a big word and I always remember when I was a child when
especially when I was in old Kilmainham and my guardian angel used to say to me
Lorna you should be thankful for everything and I never quite understood
because I was in a way thank you for everything I couldn't figure out why he
was saying that to me but as I grew older and the Angels taught me more I
realized you know the bigger word is gratitude not just being thankful not
just being grateful and how important that is because sometimes we have you
know we say to ourselves we have so much in life, in material things but we forget
to be grateful and thankful for our body for our mind how how good it is and how
perfect it is even if it has faults, you know, I always remember the time of you
know meeting a young man and he finding it really difficult to walk and you know
I said to him do you go for a walk every day and he said yes and you know I said
is it hard for you does it hurt and he said yes but isn't it wonderful I can
walk he was so happy, so grateful, he had so much gratitude for being able to
actually walk even though every step was painful and I think we forget that
within our lives, within you know even in our work, if you have a job you know
sometimes people would say to me I'm miserable in my job, I hate it, I don't
like it but in one sense you should be delighted you have a job because you
have a job that's giving you a way to, you know, to look after yourself it's
providing an income and then you can say to yourself I'm grateful for my job I
have now, I've great gratitude for that but I'm going to look for something else
that I might like as well but not to keep on hating the job you do because
you're losing that blessing, you're losing you know that's next new
beginning your you're losing so much because you're not loving yourself in
any way you're in a sense you know turning yourself against yourself with
bitterness because you've you you're kind of saying well I'm not grateful for
anything I don't - you know I don't notice my blessings I don't notice all
the good things that are happening in my life and that are all around my life and
if you were that young man and every step you took as you walked was
extremely painful you know, I know you probably would be screaming and you
probably would be hating yourself. Why did this happen to me and yet that young
man was so full of gratitude and and hope and and life and he had a smile on
his face. You know, I remember his guardian angel just how would I say that
I just find it so hard to describe just with its arms, you know, around this young
man like this and this was on O'Connell bridge years ago and just watching, you
know, as I said goodbye, you know, and I watched him continue across the bridge
his guardian angel turned to me and said what you want to ask before the distance
gets too far and I said what else does he do and his guardian angel said to
me he lives life to the fullest. He even paints , he works and he loves
and of course when you hear the word love and I suppose
gratitude, being thankful, being grateful we have to love ourselves to be able to
allow all of those things to come forward. So I think the only way I could
put it in the world today I suppose we begrudge, we're not loving ourselves enough
to be thankful and grateful and and we need to do that a little bit more and I
know I could probably go on and on talking but I think maybe that's enough
for you all to take in today and maybe in a sense and every day just remind
yourself to be grateful to be thankful because I could tell you loads of
stories. You know be grateful and be thankful for all the wonderful things
that are in your life and look around and recognize them but look at yourself
too look at you and see what you are grateful for you. So God bless
and love you all.
you