Gratitude

"You cannot exercise much power without gratitude because it is gratitude that keeps you connected with power." (Power = Love)

-Wallace Wattles

"Gratitude for the abundance you have received is the best insurance that the abundance will continue."

-Muhammad

I learned a great deal about gratitude was I was 16 turning 17. I was learning how to live at a higher level by thinking at a higher level. It changed my training forever, it changed my life forever. The power of gratitude which leads to the power itself (love) brings only good things to you. It is a key for wonderful things. But it will be, and always has been: an emotion. 

I always say no one can appreciate how green the grass is like me, or how blue the sky is like me, or how the sun shine likes me. I appreciate the small things, and put great attention and focus on them, and I have such great and deep appreciation for PEOPLE. People I come in contact with, people whom I meet, people whom I share things with. I can never say thank you enough. I never feel that my gratitude is ever expressed justly because it is just so great! 

When Mr. Broadhurst passed away, I will never forget the tremendous impact it had on so many people from such a large time span. The caliber of this individual I never understood or realized, nor could appreciate when I was younger. How many times did this man sit in my kitchen right across from me and I NEVER realized what an honor his presence was! When he passed away, I vowed I would NEVER allow myself to not appreciate the people whom I am with. And I've kept true to that promise to myself.

 

With this new training and having Professor Lisa Sargese as my mental conditioning mentor toward my 4th Degree Black Belt test, my training is beginning to reach new levels and a direction for new heights. Just when you think it could never get better, a new way is found to show you otherwise! We know a kung fu master 8th Degree (Sifu we call him, meaning master in Chinese) who taught us a great deal about Qi and spirit. Qi (pronounced "chee") meaning energy, which I understood a lot about through my martial arts training. I know how ot generate energy, take energy, release energy, store energy, calm energy, ignite energy, you name it. But spirit. This was something totally new, and totally mind blowing for me as I continue to learn more and more.

Some would say they are both the same. I would argue. But let me tell you about my experience with spirit for a little bit. The more I listen to spirit, the more I allow my spirit to guide me, the more I can be in tune to others' spirits. Especially in our society, we do not allow ourselves to listen to our spirits. Relax? Calm? What are those things? That is the question most people will ask, referring to their every day hustle and bustle lives. But when we listen to spirit, we can hear the most UNBELIEVABLE things. Lisa was given a drill by Sifu to do and even began blogging on a new blog about it what spirit tells her called Spirit Says. You can go there and see the amazing things that come to her.

But I also get to sense spiritual intentions as well. Something happened yesterday and I felt very negative, the anxiety was taking over, the fear of the unknown, the uncertainty coming from different angles, negative creations being formed in front of my eyes, I was not prepared. So I sent a single text message to the one person I knew who could help. My text to Lisa said "I need shields...badly." I have heard of spiritual shields and knew I needed them. I prayed in my office (I am a Christian), and then I began regaining positive focus.

Well let me tell YOU! When Lisa got this text, she was like Commissioner Gordon sending up the bat signal calling upon Batman and all his sidekicks! She was in the middle of a meeting she was facilitating, sent texts to several different people who she knew could send out good spiritual energy my way. One placed a positive shield and camouflage on me, three others send prayers against evil forces and intentions, and Lisa ran home to make an oil blend she created and blessed it with shields she looked up. She contacted my  friend Robert who was close by to deliver it, and do you want to know how fast it worked? INSTANTLY!

I cannot tell you how fast the results were. I sensed my spirit calming down (which unbelievable), the person causing trouble seemed to turn in the wrong direction almost as if they were forgetting where to go (which is unusual for one) and made decisions otherwise of their intent, and a positive end result formed. Coincide-ance? I think so.

You can read Lisa's recap on the events HERE. But you know what I felt? GRATITUDE! I could not believe what effort Lisa put into my call for help, and BOY did she come through! Holy moly! I was even MORE grateful for all the people who so willingly got involved for my spiritual rescue! The gratitude just poured out of me. God bless all these people! Or as Lisa called them, spiritual warriors! =D

And yet gratitude continues to find my heart. This year was a very troubling year in my personal life. Mostly earlier in the year, and I am learning to get past it all and accept the things I cannot change. It was VERY difficult to get through. But my friend Robert has been a life saver. His unwavering loyalty, his kind personality, funny sense of humor, his good heart, I ask God, what did I do to deserve a friend like him? This week we did a full week of training. He really helped me so much get my butt out of bed and keep up with ym training. He's always there for me. My gratitude could never be truly expressed that I have for Robert.

I hit the powerhouse of friendship with Robert and Lisa. And I know I have many more too. I am blessed. Spiritual storms may brew, but the truest of truest friends are in my life, along with these two. I remember someone once told me that individual fingers may be weak but put them together in a fist, you can pack quite a punch. Together united, we all together in my family are an awesome group and nothing but positive energy and good spirit. And I just have one thing to say about that: I am ssooooooooooooooo grateful!

Yours in service,
ANDREW TRENTO