Living with Gusto

by Elizabeth Day

resentment and bitterness weigh so much. They’re so heavy, like big suitcases filled with boulders. So, as you can imagine, they make it hard to move forward. Trudge. Trudge. Slow movement. Too much dragging with you. But! When you feel only gratitude, you’re light. No suitcase, no baggage. So much easier to lift your foot and step forward.

Gratitude has no limit; it stretches out forever in every direction. When you give gratitude all the names it goes by, its endlessness begins to unfold before you. Suddenly, you find yourself having more and more reasons to feel lucky. Interesting thing. Want to know why? Because, Ophelia, when you give attention to what’s working, what you’re grateful for, you see the gifts—in each moment and each day. The more you’re willing to see them, the more they show up. If you believe you’re the luckiest person in the world, you become the luckiest person in the world. When you believe you have so much to be grateful for, you create so much to be grateful for.

That’s the beauty of a magnificent orchestra at work. Tell the universe what kind of music to play and then stand back and let it be the conductor.”

“If you observe people, you’ll notice something: the happiest people are the ones who are free. They’re free of that heavy bag filled with everyone else’s definitions and rules and judgments. They dropped that bag off somewhere along the way. Emptied it out or just left it where they found it. They know who they are. They have their own rules. And no matter what’s going on in their life, they’re at peace, a peace that can’t be broken.”

No one but me can decide who I am, what I’m capable of, and what my life should look like. I’m embracing that honor.

What does your story need? More wisdom? More generosity? More forgiveness? More strength? More trust? More courage?”

though you can’t control someone else’s story, you always have complete say over yours.

Remember, gratitude makes it possible to move forward. Bitterness and resentment hold you back, keep you holding on to the rope—even if it’s with just one hand. A single finger. Do you see? Let go of your end of the rope.”

Space is sometimes the best gift you can give. Sometimes it’s physical space… but more often, it’s other kinds of space. The space for that person to be who they are. And the space for you to be who you are.”

“Every person that steps into your life does so for a reason, just as you walk into their life for a reason. Let other people be who they are, and you—be who you are. And then make choices. Give thought and attention not to those who turn down the volume on your voice but to the people who inspire your song.”

You’re not giving it away. You’re offering it and holding on to it at the same time. You’re worried about how they’ll respond to it—and whether or not they’ll respond at all. You’re wondering whether it will come back to you.”

simply giving it to them to do with it whatever they chose.

You’re still connected. As long as you choose to be.”

A flickering of a moment. A single thought about me. Love through light. The light of love.

Love through light. The light of love. In that moment, I experienced and understood the ultimate purpose of connectedness.

Love and let go. Freely. Generously. Allow people to be who they are, noticing those rhythms that are harmonized with mine, sometimes a drumbeat, sometimes the whistle of a flute, bringing out music that wouldn’t otherwise exist, and then eventually, there will be no one in my life who doesn’t in some way or another encourage me to sing.

“When the want for change knocks on your door, it doesn’t work to pretend you don’t hear it. It will only knock louder. And that’s a very good thing. Change pushes you forward, takes you by the hand, and leads you to more of who you are. Look at all those stars starting to come out in the sky. Which one is pulling you toward it?

you need to trust what you know.”

When two people are both in their heart instead of their head, they always understand each other. Always.”

“Do what makes you happy.”

Choose thoughts that make you happy. Say things to yourself that make you smile. It may not always be the first thought that comes into your mind. Or even the second or third. But you’ll know when you’ve found the thoughts that make you happy because they’ll immediately carry you right to the peak of any mountain you’re trying to climb. Every time.

“You are worthy. Always. End of sentence. Because you don’t have to be perfect to be worthy.

when you don’t first support yourself with the core belief of I’m worthy, you won’t feel the support of any of the external, outside-of-yourself specifics in your life—people, places, circumstances, time, money, and more. But when you flip that master switch, every kind of support that ever existed—and new ones too—they show up readily, easily, practically fighting to be first in line.

This is the matter of it: be who you are, love who you are, and embrace the fact that you’re worthy of every happiness you’ve ever imagined.”

“Keep forgiving, Ophelia. Yourself. Others. Yourself again.”

“You see, no one can put your spark out. Only you can.

the greatest strength—what takes the most courage—is to ask yourself, “Am I willing to love myself?” and to answer it with all the soul of who you are, “Yes. Without limits.”