Grateful for Irritants

"When an irritating object becomes trapped within an oyster's shell, it deposits layers of calcium carbonate (CaCO3) slowly increasing in size and producing a pearl. This serves no purpose to the oyster, pearls do not attract mates for the oyster or perform any other function. It seems impossible to find an evolutionary advantage for the ability to produce the pearl, thus it can be explained only as a reaction to the irritation."

"Irritation is apparently the only universal sense shared by even single-celled creatures."

GREAT! The one thing we share with all organisms. . . even the "single-celled" ones is IRRITATION?!? Couldn't it have been something more pleasurable? Of all of the things that make us grow and change, irritants are probably to most efficient. If something hurts we quickly make an adjustment to avoid it. We evolve in a sense. But what if that irritant is chronic and we can't make it go away? What if we have a thorn in our side that can't be pried out?

Perhaps we can take a lesson from the oyster who takes a thorn and turns it into a rose. Even more interesting is what pearls are made out of, calcium carbonate.

Calcium carbonate is also a common substance found in the oyster's very own shell. So by enveloping this irritant with a little bit of itself, the oyster creates the June birthstone.

What is your chronic irritant? Helping you evolve as a person? Are you better for it?

A personal example? Being teased in school was an irritant, now I can look back and be grateful for it. A bully in school can be a irritant that feels impossible to get rid of. Do you focus all of your attention on making the irritant go away? Or. . . do you evolve from it? Do you develop the opalescent skills and virtues that will shine once you realize that bullies don't matter anymore?

So what is an example of an irritant in your life and how is it making you a better person? How many pearls can you count in your life because of something you once considered an "irritant"? Was it an irritant at all? Or was it simply a seed that grew into bigger and better things? Would your quality of life be better if you saw irritants as opportunities instead of nuisances?

*Quotes brought to you by Wikipedia*

Grateful for Dreams

Aspirations can come and go like ocean waves. Sometimes, if you get deep enough, they whip you around, toss you up, smooth those rough edges and most likely scare the living daylights out of you.

A year ago I realized that I had so many beautiful things in this moment but I was so focused on my dreams for the future that I'd forgotten how good I had it. In an effort to have the 20/20 vision that usually comes along with hindsight I re-analyzed and found I needed nothing to be happy, content, and full of life. Instead of remembering the good old days, we can focus on the good old Now.

Since everything in this gift of life is going so beautifully (sometimes I have to keep repeating that idea to make it through the day, see I'm not nauseously optimistic) it's time to take one dream that's been occupying my brainpower and make it a reality. That dream is to finish a book. Why not make it a positive book that gives a fresh outlook?

I'm grateful for the ups and downs. I'm grateful for falling when I'm standing on top of the world. I'm grateful for my soul mates and soul families. I'm grateful for the ones who told me to write about the beauty I saw in life when I was complaining about being bored with it. I'm grateful for being able to share it with you.

Some of the things these entries may encourage you to be grateful for have been polluted, diluted, damaged. But how can anything be repaired unless we are first grateful for it? Keep the negative and pessimistic thoughts out of you while you read this. When you fall and scrape your knee, do you think badly of the knee for being damaged? Or is that the time you look back and reminisce about the good old knee? No!

So stand up, brush off your dirty knees, and be grateful for them. Even if they're scraped. Even if they hurt. Even if they have arthritis. Even if you can't use them anymore. Even if you only have one. These are the little details that cloud our minds and leave us wanting. As long as you are wanting you are not being grateful. And if you just can't bring yourself to be grateful for your knees. . . be grateful for your elbows instead.