Ask not what the universe can do for you but what you can do for the universe

Looks like the groundhog was right, spring is just around the corner and my bare legs can feel it as I walk along the trail near a local pond. Never thought I would be sweating in MO during February. Didn't we just have a blizzard or am I missing something? Whatever the reason is, I'm glad the sun has finally poked its head through and given us the joys of the outdoors again. Walking on the treadmill just can't compare to the outdoors. Looking down to see your calories burned, time and distance just can't replace looking down to see a thousand blades of grass.

I was reading an article about the law of attraction the other day and it talked about how some people attract unpleasant situations into their lives simply because they go on a sort of autopilot with their thoughts, not really thinking about what good they can attract or what bad. You could call these folks a realist. I hope for the best, but knowing the situation I probably won't get what I want. How does the universe take that to mean? Give me the worst or give me the best? Usually the most energy is put into preparing for the worst, so the universe sends the worst and those subjects lose faith in their ability to control their own destiny.

You could think of the universe as an iPod. You could scroll through and choose exactly what artist, album and song you want to hear, or you could turn on "shuffle" and make do with whatever plays. At first, I thought the article was urging me to choose my songs. To pick and choose my experiences and skip over the ones I don't fancy. I began to apply that advice to my life beginning with my iPod. If I heard a song I didn't want, I skipped over it and ended up spending 5 min skipping though songs because I wasn't sure exactly what I wanted but I wasn't going to settle for anything less. I am sure the universe was confused by what I wanted and threw out songs that it hoped would please me. I discarded over and over - sometimes I didn't even look at the song because I didn't believe it was right. One day I just let my iPod play because I didn't want to take my hands out of my pockets. A random song came on and I listened to the whole thing. I didn't particularly like it but I enjoyed those few minutes it played because I wasn't infused by the song or daydreams that the song inspired. I looked around me and realized that it was actually quite warm and I felt the sun on my back. I saw the water move with the wind and say the twigs that fell on the pebbles by the shore. For the first time in MO, I marveled at nature and what it could do. How it was able to push the water and how it could create such a warm day after a string of cold ones.

I looked at myself in disgust. I skipped through my songs without ever thanking the universe for what it gave me without me even realizing it. Thats the best kind of love isn't it? Giving someone something they love and not needing any recognition at all. I took a moment and turned off my iPod to be grateful for what I had. Everything I had. There are those who have love for themselves and believe that love for yourself equals love for the universe. It does not. You have to give back. And the universe is so wonderful that you don't have to do anything but think. No thank you notes. No thank you muffin basket. A thought. How simple is that? How will it know what to give you next if it didn't hear how its last gift went over? How insignificant we are. What did I do this morning to deserve every breath I take? What have I done to deserve the thick skin that keeps me together? Nothing! And yet here it is working for free wether I thank the universe for it or not. Imagine what the universe could do if we gave it a little gratitude...