Amani. Hope all is well for you and you tribe.
I recently went through a lot of drastic changes in my life and though they were different and difficult in their own way, it lead me to an experience that i have to share with those who are willing to read.
That experience is what is named in the title.
I was sitting in my room one afternoon, and eventually worked up an appetite. Anyone that knows me well knows i eat a mostly plant based diet. I jokingly tell people that are unaware that "I eat grass." So obviously, i decided to get some sort of plant based snack, which at the time was fruit.
Mangoes lately have been my favorite fruit of choice, not only because of the benefits and ease of access (they are literally available everywhere) but because it's one of the many fruits i trust that is minimally tampered with. I went to grab a mango and peel it, and as I'm peeling it, I'm feeling happy. I was dealing with a loss in the family, but i wasn't crying or moping. In fact, i was celebrating life. It took some time and tears to get to that point, but i was peeling the mango in gratitude for what i had. As i finishing peeling and began to take the first few bites, i had a lot on my mind. My future, my dreams, and what those meant relative to where I am now. I then concluded that i had everything i needed, that I had the tools to gain all I want and could ever want (I felt this way at the CORE of my being), and upon finishing that thought i instantly burst into tears of bliss and joy. A feeling of overwhelming happiness swept over me. Imagine if everything you had ever wanted ever was given to you in one moment. That's how i felt. And being a soul with self-awareness, as well as an avid reader, I KNEW I had met the presence of God.
This experience taught me a lot about gratitude, mindfulness, and abundance. I realized how much we really don't need because we already have it, and if we think we don't its because we have to realize that we have the ability to get it. I realized how much we really have available to us, and how much we can magnetize when we are truly connected to God (which connects us to each other. We just have to remember that connection). And more importantly, I realized even further that the validation of people, places and things mean nothing because your very birth and existence validates you more than someone's idea of success or "winning" ever will (another topic for another day).
May this help you connect with... You, and All That Is.
Meditate on this today. Amani (which means peace in Swahili)