If we are grateful, if we give thanks—does this make us "good"?
Does this mean we are further on the spiritual path than someone else?

No, it does not. 

Remember: there is no hierarchy of souls.
One soul is not "good" while another soul is "bad", regardless of our actions here on earth.
All souls are perfect.

That's the Divine part of us. But in the earthly, worldly, day-to-day part, the part where our very Divine soul inhabits our very earthly human container, being grateful can help us on our path. 

Gratitude helps, because it lifts vibration. 
When we raise vibration, even if just for a moment, we become aware. 
When we become aware, even if just for a moment, we remember who we really are. 

Whenever you are deeply grateful for your human experience—the good, the bad, the all of it—you open your consciousness a little bit more. 

Over time, you start to live in grace. 

What happens when we create ritual? 
When we use fire, sage, sound or scent to represent our spiritual intention? 
When we mark an event or understanding in a serious and meaningful way? 

What I have found, is that ritual creates magic. 
It is the clearest way to let the Universe know that you are deeply, deeply grateful. 
It is taking a moment in the fabric of the Universe—sliding between the layers and levels of all the dimensions—and recognizing what a great gift it is to be here. 

If you have not created ritual lately, it might be time. 
You can create ritual to say thank you, or you can create ritual to remember, or you can create ritual to release. 

There is no special way to do it, either. 
Fire, sage, sound and scent are common markers. 
But you can do whatever works for you—it is a creative, unique process. 
Perhaps a ritual is waiting for you today. 

When we arrange our life so that our priority is "being" instead of "doing", everything changes.

It doesn't mean we give up our responsibilities, or we stop working toward goals that are meaningful to us. It doesn't mean we stop doing what needs to be done.

What it does mean, is that we begin to treat our "beingness" as something of value. 

Downtime isn't dumb. 
Relaxation isn't lazy. 
Slowing down isn't a character flaw. 

To "be here now" means to treat every single moment with appropriate awe and wonder. 
It's ALL part of the experience. 
Not just the "doing" part.

The more you can be intentional about making space for "being" in your life, the more joy you will experience. And this is what we are here for. 

What do you find meaningful in your life?
What really matters to you? 

If you ask most people what matters to them, you might expect these answers: 
"My family matters most."
"My relationships matter most." 
"My work matters most." 
"My health matters most." 

Of course, all of these are very important—they are worthy of mattering. 
And yet what's not on this list, might be what you find the most important of all: 

How you experience this lifetime. 

Not the way you think about your experiences. 
Not the narrative or story you tell. 
But how you experience life, moment to moment to moment, every moment as Now. 

If you have a chance today, to engage in a Now moment that is breathtaking in its beauty and wholeness, how wonderful would that be? 

Put in the simplest terms: Gratitude brings us to grace. 

No matter how we are feeling, what we are thinking, or how miserable our life seems to be, the moment we turn our attention to gratitude, everything changes. 

We physically change—we deeply relax. 
We emotionally change—we become flooded with feeling. 
We intuitively change—we open to awareness. 
We spiritually change—we connect with everything. 

We sometimes wonder if it is possible to really, truly change. 

We get to a point in our life, where we look back at who we have been, and we see who we are now, and it seems like we haven't changed that much. 

We think we're still who we used to be. 
Except we're not. 

And of course, the outer changes don't matter: how we look, what we do, who we're with, what we're involved with. It's easy to change those things. 

It's the inner self that we're asked to pay attention to. 
That's where we find the only change that matters.

We might notice, over time, that our body has changed. 
But what we really need to notice, is how we have become more compassionate. 
We might notice, over time, that we have changed our relationships. 
But what we really need to notice, is how we are releasing our need to control. 

When we try to change by controlling, doing, starting, stopping... that's just surface change. 

When we let go of control—when we just sail along in this river of flow and let the Universe guide us—this is where we really start to change.

And when we really start to find the person we were meant to be.