One of my clients is a world class entertainer. She has been doing a one woman show since March, eight performances a week. It’s the first week in August and she has two more weeks to go. She’ll rest awhile then take her work to Los Angeles, New York and London.

Before she performs, she closes her eyes, reaches deep within herself and says, thank you.

What a powerful centering prayer that is.

Thank you. It is not − I want − I need, or I must have. It’s simply standing in the grace and reality of what we are and all we have become.

Thank you, acknowledges our gifts, our health, and our deep connection to something greater than ourselves.

Saying, thank you, as prayer shines our inner light on all that is right. We see that we are human, we are flawed and we are blessed, all in the same moment.

I was struck with her session because of my own years in the performing arts. I did not say, thank you, before I went on stage. I seized in fear. I sweat blood. I judged myself through the eyes and value systems of my audience.

How wise she is, this young forty year old woman, to take her power back from all that is external by simply and honestly standing in the fullness of gratitude.