“When you are truly grateful, there is no room for judgement.” – Helene Rennervik
I start my first blog post with gratitude because it has grounded me during the past two years when my young son found out what it means to have cancer.
Through his diagnosis, treatment, surgery and all the pain and fear he experienced, along with all of our family’s up and downs, I leaned on gratitude. Sometimes I had to look, but there was always something to be grateful for.
As a mum it is so tempting to feel overwhelmed, confused or scared when your child is sick. Anxiety was always there. “Come, Helene,” it invited me, “you are welcome to lose yourself here!”
This is what overwhelm, fear and anxiety whispered to me, whenever I didn’t have my heart centered in gratitude.
It was simple, really, just coming into mindful awareness of something around me – the trees, my child, or a tiny gleam of color in a picture on the wall of a hospital room. Or, I might connect with something inside me: a memory, a feeling of love, a swell of hope.
In gratitude there was no room for judgement about how things were, how others behaved, how I labeled my experiences, good or bad. Gratitude roots me in possibility and appreciation. It reminds me that right now is the only moment I have. And, no matter what the circumstances are, gratitude takes me into the heart of that moment, which is always, and no matter what…
Love.