Daily Gratitude & The Power of Surrender

"And he who receiveth all things with thankfulness shall be made glorious; and the things of this earth shall be added unto him, even an hundred fold, yea, more." (Doctrine and Covenants 78:19)

It has been a few days since I have written my Daily Gratitude. It is not because I have not had the time. It is not because I not been feeling gratitude. On the contrary, it's because my gratitude has been so intense that I have not wanted to get off my knees.

Only one other time in my life have I experienced such a deeply profound emotion. Oh, sure, I have had some powerful, eye-opening, and even "miraculous" experiences. I have heard "the still small voice," acted on what I heard, and my life has been completely transformed because of it. But only once, until now, have I been so enlightened, so inspired, so overcome with emotion that I have been unable to marry my spiritual experience with my physical one. As a result, I have been weak. I have been unable to function normally. I have been swept up and unwilling to do anything that would jeopardize the feeling that has overcome me.

The first time this happened was in December of 2006. I was in the car, driving to the second day of a three day business training seminar--I say business, but it was much more than business training, it was LIFE training--and as I was pondering the things I had learned the day before, the heavens opened unto me. I was swept away for a time (heaven only knows how I did not crash the car) and for a moment I saw and understood more about God and life and the Universe than I ever thought possible. I understood how things worked. I received answers to questions that had been plaguing me my whole life. I understood, really understood, who I am--who WE are--and the potential that lies within us.

Two days later, I tried to put into words some of what I had learned when I wrote The Parable of the Clothes.

For a week, I was unable to function--I was so overcome with emotion and grandeur and possibility. I could see things that I had been unable to see before--like how some people had about them a special light. I deeply appreciated everything I saw, touched, tasted, heard, smelled. I understood in a way I never had before how we are all connected--how we really are brothers and sisters sharing in a grand journey. I wanted to hug everyone and congratulate them for being here.

But, over time, life got in the way and the clarity of the experience faded. And for the last year or so, though I can look back on the experience fondly, I have not felt what I felt then.

Until now.

I came home from Rome a week ago yesterday. It was an amazing, wonderful, powerful, rejuvinating experience. I met and spent quality time with many extraordinary people.

On Sunday morning, I hopped on the shuttle to the airport and sat next to a woman who introduced herself as Cathleen. Cathleen told me a little bit about herself--how she was a successful interior designer, but the work had become too physical for her, and that while she had become qualified at the Summit level just by positioning herself correctly, she had not yet made her two training sales.

Then she said, "But I know I will. I was talking to Beau Reed about it, and he said, 'Would you like to know what I see?' Of course, I told him I would, so he said, 'You're accomplished, but you're closed.'" Then Cathleen, with a knowing smile, opened up her arms, as if accepting all the Universe would give her.

Cathleen and I continued to chat for the rest of drive to the airport--about life and business and interior design--but for the rest of my trip I reflected on Beau's words: You're accomplished, but you're closed. It was as if he were talking through Cathleen to me. No...it was as if God was talking through Beau, through Cathleen to me.

"Accomplished, but closed." Of course, that's me exactly, I thought. In fact, all week I had been ruminating on the idea of resistance--how I had spent a lifetime of resisting many things, but abundance in particular. I spent a lifetime trying to stop things from coming into my life because I felt I had too much to handle already!

When I returned home, I began the task of reading through my piled up email. Luckily I had hired an assistant before I left to clear out the junk, so what was left was a manageable amount.

In my email was an article by Helene Rothschild titled, The Power of Surrender. In the article, Helene describes an exercise that entails lying on the floor with the arms outstretched and the palms facing upward. It reminded me of Cathleen, and the opening of her arms as she told me of her conversation with Beau.

The coincidence was too powerful to resist, and, like all coincidences, it really was not a coincidence at all.

The next day, when the kids had left for school and the house was quiet, I found an open space on the floor and began my meditation and personal development.

My mind guided me to Helene's exercise, and I promptly lay down on the floor and opened my body as she described.

What happened next was truly nothing short of Divine. Though my eyes were closed, I saw clearly what lay before me. My previous vision had been about who I am--my divine heritage. This vision was about what I am to do.

The information came fast and furious--as if I had opened the floodgates to something that had been waiting all along for me just open the door. Despite the force and the volume of what was coming toward me, I did not resist. I stayed open and continued to receive. And when I felt I had received enough and it was time to start acting, I opened my eyes.

I was filled.

I was overflowing.

I was in awe.

I could not move.

I could not speak.

I knew, now, what I needed to do--how I would affect the lives of thousands, how I would receive the recognition I had been seeking for so long, how the abundance that would be coming into my life would bless generations. And though, as usual, I was not told HOW I was going to do it, the vision was clear. The path directly in front me. Now all I must do is walk.

Today, as I finally have the strength and the presence of mind to express my gratitude in words, I find I am without words after all.

And so, this will have to suffice:

For every thing I have ever done...
For every person I have ever known...
For every moment I have ever been given...
For every breath I take...
For every beauty I behold...
For every song I hear...
For yesterday...
For tomorrow...
For right now...

THANK YOU!