If you’re a fan Christ — and I am — and if you contemplate his teachings — as I do — you’ll know that he mentions quite memorably “The Narrow Gate:”
Small is the gate and narrow is the way
that leads to life. And only a few find it.
Enter through the Narrow Gate.
~ Jesus
So the Narrow Gate is the less-traveled path, a seldom-taken route that marks the way to spiritual riches and abundance in the afterlife.
But I’ve got a secret for you: The way to riches and abundance in this life is actually through another gate. A gate that is able to swing wide if you have the right “Open Sesame!”
Gratitude is the Gateway to Abundance
Whilst gratitude itself and alone is not the goal, it is the portal. The doorway. The threshold to abundance. And the gatekeeper, the sentinel, the sentry guard, if you will, welcomes gratefulness. Thankfulness. Appreciation. Graciousness.
That’s the Open Sesame: giving thanks. And our beloved paradox of truth is afoot here because: The more gratitude you give, the more generosity you get.
Thanks-giving is abundance-getting. So give it profusely. Bequeath it abundantly. Pour it on thick. You can’t get rid of it fast enough because the very act of emptying yourself of gratitude fills you up again.
“Thanks!” That’s it. You immediately feel good when you do it. And the Universe delivers more — ample more — for which to be grateful. Because the Universe, like a host loaded with limitless resources, is a show-off.
Smirk of the Universe
And that’s why the Universe is smiling at you. Winking at you. Because It knows whatever your wish, It can provide. No matter what you behold, it’s just the tip of Its iceberg. The wine cellar is full, the troves are teaming with treasure, the tidings are too abundant to recount.
Pass through the Gratitude Gate to encounter bounteous beneficence. Gobs of generosity. Loads of largess. Mountains of munificence. Stupendous surfeit.
But there is a precursor to getting the most from our host. And you already know the magic spell. At its most fundamental: simply say “THANK YOU” — and get a TON of good stuff in return.
No Thanks
If you are not in gratitude, then perhaps you are fostering ingratitude: You can’t find much if anything to feel thankful about.
But the problem with ingratitude is that those who harbor it live in lack. Though they feel entitled to more—the Universe and everyone else owes them something—their thanklessness results in an absence of plenitude. Paradoxically, wanting MORE without being grateful for what IS, garners LESS. Even though it’s only a perception of less. Not actually less, not literally less, but a self-cultivated feeling of LESS.
The thankless are actually doing it to themselves. Whilst directing blame for their inner feeling at everyone else: “This went wrong. That went wrong.” “It’s my boss’s fault, my parent’s fault, my therapist’s fault, your fault.” “The waiter didn’t… my kids didn’t… the teacher didn’t…” “It’s not coming fast enough, juicy enough, big enough, first-class enough.”
Nothing is ever really enough.
For those in lack, everything lacks luster, including them. Energetically they can appear to have a grey film over them, or seem encased by a dark membrane. It’s as if they are peering out on the world through a dirty window rather than gazing in wonder at a multi-faceted crystal kaleidoscope of happenings.
(Incidentally, a cluster of butterflies—like a “pack” of wolves or “pod” of porpoises—is referred to as a “kaleidoscope.” So to experience gratitude just open your heart to be more like a butterfly! You can find some inspiration to embrace your inner butterfly by reading the chapter from my book entitled: Flap, Flap, Glide [click here].)
These “lacklusters” have perfected the feeling of missing out on something. They experience “order envy” about the order of the Universe. They believe that everyone has got it better than they do. But this impoverished mindset has a cost: those who cannot feel gratitude, who fail to fill their hearts with ENOUGH, will forever be enslaved to the empty promise, the false allure, the barren cup... of MORE.
If these lacklusters FELT abundant, then they would BE abundant. If they THANKED enough, then they would EXPERIENCE enough. And enough is enough, right? Well…
Champagne Problem
Not so if you are living in grace: In grace, your cup runeth over!
And if you’re ever-thankful for the spill, it will yield an even bigger cup to fill!
Gratitude for the infinitude of life and its ineffable wonderments is what makes every circumstance, every experience, every moment a present.
Gratitude then — giving thanks, saying grace, enumerating one's blessings — is the ultimate gift worth giving. Because the cosmic ironic corollary is that the more we give gratitude to others, to the Earth, to the Universe… the more we give to ourselves.
And that’s a gifting measure in which everyone finds pleasure.
So give it away. Give it away. Give it away now. (Cue exit music 🎼.)👇🏼
