Beauty: Gratitude Practice

I have shared this practice here before.  I began doing this years ago, and it has a powerful effect on me.  It can be done in any public space.  I began doing it while at the gym.

As you move around and through public space that you share with other people, do the following.

  1. Let your gaze fall on one person.
  2. Hold that person in sight, mind and heart.
  3. Begin to see that person as a real person and not just another body taking up space around you.
  4. Silently, within, speak to that person as if they were the only person in the room:  Thank you, for your beauty.
  5. Allow whatever change within you to happen.
  6. Move to the next person and repeat.

You can practice this with the 2-3 people you encounter in the grocery aisle.  You can practice this while waiting on the service to begin at the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Gwinnett.  You can practice this while standing in line to get your driver’s license renewed.  You can practice this while waiting in the doctor’s office.

To be honest, I remember to practice it when I am in public space that is beginning to irritate me (too crowded, too noisy, too slow, too unfriendly, etc).  It becomes clear, at some point, that I cannot change that public space, but perhaps I can change me.  This practice of gratitude for beauty in others just might change the public space, too.

Bob Patrick

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