the graceful dance

A few years ago, I was listening to a mindfulness podcast where the host, Thomas McConkie, said something that has stayed with me even after all this time. I remember him saying that as humans it’s easy to get stuck in a mode of seeking; he called it the “reaching posture.” When we’re stuck in this posture, we constantly imagine what is just around the corner. Our minds engage in the endless search for whatever’s next because surely, it must be better than what we have right now. 

I just love that visual of the reaching posture. It helps me understand myself more clearly. Sometimes I feel like all I do is reach. I stand on my tiptoes with my arms outstretched and aching, muttering to myself, just a little bit further…

I know each of us has things that we long for—personally, professionally, spiritually, emotionally—and there’s nothing wrong with that. We all have desires and dreams. We’re all whispering together, “Just a little bit further…”

I don’t dismiss those longings; I think it’s in our very nature to reach for more. But all this reaching can start to feel exhausting if it keeps us from being present with what is.

There’s a quote from Adam Miller’s book, Original Grace, that I think about all the time: “Gratitude is the work of forgiving things for being whatever good they are, rather than what I wanted them to be.” 

Until I read that line, I’d never once considered gratitude as the work of forgiveness. I’d always assumed that gratitude consisted of list-making and thankfulness, but it’s so much more than that. Gratitude is the graceful dance of accepting what is even while hoping there is still more to come. It’s not settling, it’s appreciating. It’s not giving up, it’s surrendering. It’s trusting in the goodness that God is offering you every single day and forgiving the rest. 

And that really is work. It takes a lot of focus to stay present and lean into your life, right here, right now. But that’s the kind of work I want to engage in. I want to wrestle with forgiveness; I want to understand that kind of grace. I want to ask myself the hard question: will I even appreciate whatever is just around the corner if I don’t open my hands to gently receive the goodness that is already here? 

I’ll be thinking about this type of gratitude long after this season of giving thanks has come and gone. And I hope that as I continue my seeking—because we all will—I’ll also leave space for moments where I let my reaching arms drop and my feet fall flat to the earth. Moments where stillness abounds and clarity consumes me because I am full of forgiveness, which is gratitude. Moments where I am open and willing to embrace the goodness that colors everything around me.

More moments of receiving.

Happy Thanksgiving, my friends.