Blessings for the Soul

In Corrogue I count my Blessings.

These are numerous. There is every breath in. There is every breath out. There is every heartbeat that reminds me of the joy of compassion and the blessing of this experience called life.

Each day I count my breath for ten minutes. In this way it becomes refined. I am refined and in truth I feel fine. I do not subscribe to our socially sanctioned emotional education. This is when we are asked, "How are you?" you reply, "Fine." This is whether you are fine or not. Most of the time you are not allowed to be "not fine." Sometimes I do not feel fine. I feel angry, frustrated, self-pitying, hurt, denying and any number of other emotional reactions that "little me" has in the moment.

When I come to my senses and enter my body, leave "thinking about," leave "my future plans," leave "my past regrets," then I am here. I am present. I am alive breathing in and breathing out. I am not "wanting" and I am "going nowhere." Just sitting authorising this life moment. Simply sitting being authentic. Just being my own authority.

When you count your blessings it begins as something "you do." You have to, in the beginning, make it a habit. You learn just to wake up for a moment. You learn that you are alive. Most of us breathe without ever being aware of this wondrous connection to all that is. Becoming aware of the breath is a gateway to feeling fine. When you feel fine you feel blessed. In this way you set up a circle. You set up a technique of completeness.

Continue with this practice and you become the Blessing. Rather than be focused on the social consciousness of "never enough" you get to celebrate. You get to drop your constant focus on "earning a living" to becoming the "living of love." For some moments you begin to recognise that you are "life" living "life." You are the flow of the eternal moment.

From this sense of blessing you start to give. You start to give yourself away. As Kahlil Gibran tells us, "You give much when you give of yourself." When you start to feel blessed rather than "think about" giving thanks for blessings you get balanced. Giving happens. Giving is natural. Giving is the energy of love. You pour yourself away and as you pour you paradoxically get filled up with the love of the Divine. You become one who is fulfilled.

Every one of us can find a blessing everyday if we wish. We only have to learn to look. We have to learn to look not only with the eyes but also with the heart. We are taught to look with eyes that grasp. Our eyes become seekers, not of soul, but of things to fill up the emptiness of our souls. Relax the eyes of wanting. We have more than enough. We only need to see this. You see when you drop judging, comparing and focusing on what you do not have.

Relax and allow this blessing of life to flow. Let it flow through a body that is fine and refined. Stop judging this body. Learn to love it as it is. It is not who you are. It is a wondrous gift given from the Beloved. It is intelligent and always working to bring you back to your senses. You cannot love it too much. It will bring you into the blessing of harmony.

So start counting. Make up your own blessing. Share them with me if you wish. I make one up each day and write about what it means. Thus I get to see through the heart. I never tire of Blessings. "Blessings" as a word is related to the word "blood." Have the sense of blessing flow through a body and mind at peace.

Blessings upon you and all those you love and do not love.

Tony Cuckson is an Anam Cara. This Celtic term means "Soul Friend." He specializes in providing insight for the spiritual journey, Irish Blessings, words of wisdom and finding inner peace. Visitors to Irish Blessings Matter website and Tony's Blog get the opportunity to develop a purpose driven life through articles, newsletters and other programs. Get your free report called "7 ways to it's a wonderful life" at http://www.irishblessingsmatter.com or visit Tony's Blog at http://www.irishblessingsmatter.info for the best resources on spiritual growth, spiritual cinema, spiritual parenting, spiritual coaching and spirit in business.