Summary

The article discusses the transformative power of gratitude and loving detachment in the face of life's challenges, emphasizing the role of choice in fostering joy and well-being.

Abstract

The author reflects on the profound impact of a knee injury that has sidelined their outdoor activities, using this experience to delve into the concept of embracing life's gifts through gratitude. Citing evidence of gratitude's benefits on mental health, the author advocates for the conscious practice of recognizing blessings to enhance happiness. The narrative highlights the sacred space of choice, where individuals can decide to respond to life's stimuli with either negativity or gratitude. The article also explores the teachings of Zen teacher Charlotte Joko Beck and the Dalai Lama, emphasizing joy as acceptance without opinion and love as the absence of judgment. The author concludes by encouraging readers to practice loving detachment, respond with wisdom and love rather than fear, and make deliberate choices to cultivate gratitude, love, and joy in their lives.

Opinions

The author views their knee injury as a gift that has prompted a shift in perspective rather than a purely negative event.
Gratitude is posited as a powerful tool for changing the mind and improving well-being, with a substantial body of evidence supporting its effectiveness.
The concept of free will is central to the author's philosophy, with the belief that individuals can choose their responses to life's challenges.
The author suggests that joy is found in accepting life as it is, without the overlay of personal opinions or judgments.
Loving detachment is presented as a compassionate approach to observation, allowing space for emotions without becoming overwhelmed by them.
The author endorses the idea that love is synonymous with a lack of judgment, fostering a sense of kindness and understanding towards oneself and others.
The article encourages readers to make conscious choices that align with love and wisdom, rather than reacting from a place of fear or habitual patterns.

The Sacred Space of Choice

How to Change Your Mind with Gratitude and Loving Detachment

The real question is, do we want to change or not? Do we want to hold on to the lure of suffering and let our minds wander around in dreams?

— Thich Nhat Hanh

A few weeks ago I was gifted a major knee injury.

The sublime forest-bathing experience of bounding up and down trails in my beloved mountains is my therapy. Has been for 20-plus years.

Now, post-operative from orthopedic surgery I am side-lined for three to six months, maybe more.

What to do when a tool for health and healing is no longer available?

How do we change in the midst of life’s challenges?

We Are Gifted a Life

I am working to remember that every breath is a gift.

I forget this at my peril.

Each morning when I wake up, I am remembering to say, thank you.

There is a massive amount of evidence that gratitude — true, mindful noting of blessings in our life — fosters a greater sense of well-being and increases our happiness.

Gratitude literally changes the structure and function of our brains for the better. Who doesn’t want that?

The Sacred Space of Choice

Today I possess one priceless thing. Choice.

I can choose how to respond to every stimuli that comes my way.

I have been gifted free-will.

I get to decide whether I wake up today and consciously note a series of blessings for which I am grateful, or I wake up today and immediately begin doom-scrolling social media or binging on the news.

I get to decide.

I can choose to identify with my ego, or I can let go.

Choose Joy

The late Zen teacher Charlotte Joko Beck said,

Joy is whatever is happening, minus our opinion of it.

Have you noticed how the mind wants to form an opinion about every thing that comes to its attention? Mindfulness is simply noticing that, and not getting lost in the thoughts that inevitably follow.

I can choose to react to what is happening with judgement.

Or, I can observe with love and detachment.

I used to think that detachment was cold and unfeeling. In fact, detachment is not kind or unkind. It simply allows space between us and the object of our observation.

Now, that does not mean I do not have feelings about the tragedies happening in our world today. I absolutely do. But I am able to hold those feelings in the space of loving-kindness.

Instead of feeling overwhelmed and helpless, I choose to align with love.

I choose to hold space for my own and other’s experiences of living in these human bodies.

Space for awe, space for wonder, space for grief, or anger, or sadness.

Detachment is merely separating our opinions and judgement from the event, person or thing we are observing, even — or perhaps especially — our own emotions.

In the words of the Dalai Lama,

“Love is the absence of judgment.”

In acknowledging and allowing space for the challenges in our world today, we are better able to respond from a place of wisdom rather than reaction, and of love rather than fear.

Detachment Allows Space for Love

Today I want to be more loving, towards myself, towards the world.

Today I can change. I can grow.

In acknowledging and allowing space for the challenges in our world today, we are better able to respond from a place of wisdom rather than reaction, and of love rather than fear.

Easier said then done, but for me, waking up to CHOICE is crucial.

I can not control what happens in the world around me, but I can choose how I respond. I can be deliberate in my actions.

“Let us spend one day as deliberately as Nature, and not be thrown off the track by every nutshell and mosquito’s wing that falls on the rails.”

― Henry David Thoreau

Today, I choose gratitude. I choose love. I choose joy.

Thank you for being here. I would love to hear how you use the principles of gratitude and loving detachment in your life.

May all beings be free from suffering. May all beings be free.

You can follow me on Instagram at RBGPoet. Thank you for your support and for reading my work. Click here to join Medium with my referral link.

For a great read on the power of observing rather than judging, here is an article by George Turner, In a Second My Life Changed.