108

Lately, I am surrounded by so many messages of abundance and gratitude. Perhaps it is not so much that I am surrounded by more of it than usual, it is likely that I am thirsting for it and so am absorbing it more readily than I would ordinarily.

I am taking a yoga class with a friend who just finished her yoga teacher training (she's a VERY good instructor, btw and if you are in the Guelph area, you should ask me for her class information). During my lunch break on the day of my second class, I started reading 'Eat, Pray, Love" (hiding in my car, escaping from my work environment, because quite honestly my boss is insane). I read about the mala beads and meditation with a repeated mantra. And there at the end, the last bead, the sumeru, the dedication to gratitude. All afternoon I thought about my mantra. What word or collection of words did I want at my core, guiding my decisions. All the mantras I'd heard (and that was very few, for the record) contained words of peace and comfort. I'm good at peace and comfort. I'm good at lulling myself into a semi-comatose state. Too good, in fact. In some ways I feel like I've only just woken up to my life. I didn't want a mantra that was going to lull me back to sleep. What was it that I wanted? What did I need help remembering? What was my goal? I thought about the things I was afraid to be. The things I wanted but for some reason or another I shied away from chasing. And here's what I came up with. My mantra = (drum roll please)... Bigger, Better, Brighter.

Bigger - Bold, full of life, abundant
Better - Quality, richness, substance, empathy.
Brighter - Dazzling, exciting, adventurous, shining

So, when I got to my yoga class that night and was taught about the Mala beads and their use in meditation, I was ready with my mantra. Bigger Better Brighter.

Then the next day, sitting in a Starbucks drinking a toffee nut latte (om nom nom nom), I look over to see a poster for and event. The title on the poster is '108' and I know immediately what that means. The event is a fundraiser to benefit yogis to meditate on world peace for 3 years - how absolutely inspiring.

I have another friend who is currently in the Philippines involved in an intense daily meditation practice (don't I have the most incredible friends?) who has started documenting his internal findings on his own blog. And they have been coming in waves recently - waves of beautiful findings all about abundance and gratitude. And I am drinking them, like I've been treking across a desert. And perhaps, indeed, I have.