Gratitude and Grief: Can I Feel Both Simultaneously?

By Bethany Theulen

I learned some things this week I thought I would share. Perhaps someone else could use a higher understanding from what I have learned.

Coming from a personal, lifelong experience of severe depression and anxiety, Rare Faith and the Laws of Thought have stretched my mind and capabilities further than I could have ever imagined. Little did I know when I began my journey through Rare Faith, seeking financial success, that it would first be my SELF that the Lord guided into abundance. Not the finances, but the filling of my soul with abundance first.

Life often provides us with opportunities to test our faith and commitment to truth in the form of trials. As for myself, the deeper I’ve dug into my subconscious programming, the more my Father has pushed back and expected more of me.

One of the areas I have often struggled with is maintaining a high level of vibration in order to receive the Divine inspiration that comes from those higher vibrations, specifically gratitude. I guess my perception was that in order to vibrate in gratitude, the lower vibrations, such as sadness, had to be suppressed. That wasn’t healthy, because sometimes we need to feel sadness or grief. So, I’ve spent all the time I’ve been practicing Rare Faith fluctuating between higher and lower vibrations.

This week I learned I don’t always have to choose one over the other. I experienced a heart-wrenching week which tested my resolve to remain in this work. I have simultaneously felt the deepest level of grief and sadness AND the deepest level of gratitude I have ever felt. Both. At the same time.

The gratitude didn’t mask the emotional pain I was experiencing and at the same time, my grief didn’t “negate” the gratitude. Even amidst the sadness, I have continued to receive Divine inspiration and very clear “next step” answers.

While I wouldn’t wish what our family is going through on my worst enemy, I am so thankful for the lesson that I no longer need to feel nothing but gratitude in order to be guided by the Spirit. Sometimes grief and pain and sadness are part of our growth. The sadness won’t last forever, but the gratitude can – and will.

So, if you are struggling with some heavy things, don’t suppress true and honest emotion thinking it’s always gotta be thoughts of cupcakes and rainbows. Sometimes we experience deep and heavy emotions. The gratitude needed can still be felt among the sadness.

Don’t live in the sadness. Don’t suppress it, but acknowledge it and let it pass through. Be intentional in the gratitude, because eventually that is what will still remain when the sadness has passed.