Life is bitter sweet - Part 4

Ah the sweet of life. What would fall in that bracket for you? I know that for some it is a matter of being out in nature on a hike, a trial run, on a mountain bike or simply sitting outside in your own garden. For some it is the beauty in music or visual arts or even cinematography. For others its people, family, friends, around the table with a great bottle of wine and nicely braai’d meat (barbecue) and laughter. For others yet it is the first smile of a new born or the slow excitement of a grand parent to see you at their door. I could go on and on and I imagine there are a number of these that come to mind for you too. So how do we save these moments of sheer bliss or digest sustainably the sweetness of life?

I ask this because it is easy to fall into the natural pattern of our brains and think about and focus on the negative. You see the human brain was designed for survival so it was more important to remember which berries killed Jackie rather than the berries that tasted amazing. It was always more important to know what not to say to remain in good books with the tribe rather than to be kicked out for not adhering to the necessary protocol. as a result many people find that their brains hold onto negative emotions and experience more than they do positive. It is my belief that the fullness of life is experienced when we can acknowledge and process the bitter of life while enjoying and digesting sustainably the sweet because both are a part of the human experience.

One of the ways that I see the ancients in the faith through the text and in church history do this is the practice of gratitude. In the modern day we have made gratitude practices into anti-depressants or anti-anxiety medication to cope with the challenges of the modern day, which I am not mad at because gratitude does help with those things but I wish to invite you to a deeper picture of what gratitude can do for us. I believe that gratitude allows us to hold the sweet in life with a deeper appreciation for the sweet and the giver of that sweetness who is the source of all sweetness.

I believe that instead of simply being grateful so that your anxiety decreases I think gratitude invites you to see the big story you are a part of and helps to keep invites that there is a good God available to all of us in this life journey. I believe not only does gratitude honour God it also honours those through whom the sweetness comes like ourselves, friends, family, neighbours etc. Gratitudes warms us to others and others to us.

How can we practice this kind of gratitude?:

1. Keep a journal where you write down things your are grateful for or prayers of gratitude.

2. Say thank you to people when they do something to add sweetness to your life.

3. Serve/give back as a form of gratitude for what you have been blessed with.

4. Read psalms and prayers of others who express their gratitude.

There are many other things you could do but these are some that have made an impact for me in my life to allow me to savour the sweetness of life and draw closer to the source of that sweetness. I encourage you to join in on these practices to help you thrive in life and faith.

P.S. In an uncheesy way as possible. Thank you for reading this blog and participating with all the content we put out. It means a lot to me. I do my best not to take it for granted.