New Year, New Beginnings

A few things have happened since my last post. I know.  It's way past a week right. Well, I've taken a different position at work and I've moved. In my last post I wrote about gratitude and how I was going to start practicing it and reporting the effects it has on my life. I have to say the affects were positive. It had a great affect on the start of my day. I use to just groggily move through my morning but with something positive to focus on as soon as I wake up I seem to have more clarity in my mornings. It is a practice that I will definitely continue.

I feel like now I am ready for another step in my process. These last couple of months has had me doing more praying and meditating I have to say.  I feel like prayer and meditation are also important parts of feeling good and living a positive life regardless your religious preference. I took some time to analyze both of these this week and what I have found is that for me meditation has been more of a quite, stress relieving time and my prayers have been more like request for help, guidance or direction. That kind of disturbed me. I felt like my conversations with God needed to be different somehow.  Less asking and more...something else.  Then it dawned on me. GRATITUDE! HELLO!! I had been practicing being grateful and did not connect that I was actually praying.

Let's look at a definition of prayer.
 

prayer

noun
 

1.a devout petition to God or an object of worship.

2.a spiritual communion with God or an object of worship, as in supplication, thanksgiving, adoration, or confession.

3.the act or practice of praying to God or an object of worship.

4.a formula or sequence of words used in or appointed for praying: the Lord's Prayer.

5.prayers, a religious observance, either public or private, consisting wholly or mainly of prayer.

 

This definition came from Dictionary.com and when I saw meaning #2 I thought: "what have I been doing in my morning routine of gratitude if not praying. Who have I been thanking if not God". I suddenly felt better about my prayers. A lot of people feel like there has to be a certain structure to prayer but I don't think so.  I think God hears every word I say when I just talk to him. There was a lot of definition for communion that talked more about the act of taking communion, but part of the definition is an 'intimate communication'. A spiritual communion with God.What could make a conversation with God more spiritual than and intimate communication? I feel like that has more to do with what's in your Heart than a series of words spoken a certain way. Matter of fact, I think you can pray and not even mumble a word. Silent prayer. A moment of silence. So on and so forth. 

Ultimately I feel like this is the next step in my journee. Another lesson learned or recognized if you will. I know that people believe in different things and practice different religions but one thing seems to hold true. They all have some form of prayer. I think prayer is good in any form. Spoken, silent, formal or not so formal. Continue to pray to whomever you pray too.

Once again wishing you Love and Positivity for Life

Helen