July 22, 2024 • 22 mins
The Miraculous Power of Gratitude and Faith with Ranika Chaney
Have you ever found hope in the most unexpected places? Ranika Chaney's journey is nothing short of miraculous. Ranika, a single mother of five, faced harrowing trials with domestic violence and a difficult marriage, but her unwavering faith led her to a life filled with hope and triumph.
From the miraculous birth of her youngest child under precarious conditions to finding a home after sleeping on a friend's floor while pregnant, Ranika's story is an inspiring testament to the power of faith, resilience, and recognizing the small miracles in our daily lives.
In this heartwarming episode, we explore the transformative power of gratitude through Ranika's powerful testimonials. She recounts how simple joys, like discovering a play set on a sidewalk, and her steadfast faith in Jesus-Christ have guided her through life's darkest moments. Ranika's experiences illuminate the profound impact of gratitude on our perspective, showing us that even in adversity, there is light and divine support to be found.
Join us as we discover how adopting a grateful heart can attract blessings and provide the strength to overcome any hardship. Don't miss this uplifting conversation that promises to inspire you to see the miracles in your own life.
Ranika Chaney's bio: | Motivational Speaker | Facilitator | Host |Ranika is a sought-after public speaker and host who has shared her message of hope and healing with audiences across the country. She is a mother, artist, faith leader, and facilitator. Her passion for public speaking has led her to inspire and empower individuals from all walks of life.
As a mother of 5 children over 8 years, she understands the importance of nurturing and raising the next generation. Her faith is at the core of everything she does, and she uses her platform to spread positivity and hope.
Louisiana-born and bred, Ranika Chaney graduated from Loyola University New Orleans with a degree in Communications-Broadcast Journalism and Sociology. Ranika is a certified Mental Health Coach, speaker for the Charlotte Mecklenburg Speakers Bureau and founder of RanikaSpeaks, LLC, a service where Ranika leads her speaking engagements, coaching, hosting and facilitation obligations.
She touches on topics including domestic violence, faith, parenting, giftings and more. As an artist, Ranika expresses herself through various mediums, from spoken word to writing. As a facilitator, she brings people together to engage in meaningful dialogue and create impactful change.
Her warm and welcoming presence as a host creates a space where people feel comfortable and included. Whether she is leading a workshop, hosting a panel discussion, or delivering a keynote address, Ranika's dynamic personality and powerful message always leave a lasting impact.
Overall, Ranika's diverse skill set and unwavering dedication to making a difference make her a force to be reckoned with. She is committed to creating spaces where everyone feels seen, heard, and valued, and is dedicated to empowering others to do the same.
Connect with Ranika
Her company: RanikaSpeaks, LLC
On her website: https://www.ranikaspeaks.com/
On her YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@ranikaspeaks
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Gemma (00:01):
Welcome to Uplift inspiring stories to
uplift the world.
I am Gemma Serenity, your host, and today
we have Ranika Shani joining us.
Ranika- is a single mother of five children,
and she experienced from nothing to
(00:22):
everything in a short lapse of time.
Let's talk today about miracles.
Welcome, Ranika.
Thank you so much, Ranika.
Tell us a little bit about yourself and
let's dive into a few miracles that you
have.
Ranika (00:41):
Yeah, absolutely.
First of all, I'm glad to be here, gemma.
All of our kind of pre-conversations I've
loved just talking to you, getting to know
you.
I'm originally from Louisiana, from the New
Orleans area.
St Rose grew up there.
That's my culture.
You know good food, good music, great
people.
I'm currently living in North Carolina and
(01:04):
if we are kind of talking on you know
miracles and all that kind of had a tough
childhood, tough marriage and, like you
said, kind of went from nothing in a sense
to having just lots of great things.
You know now own my own business, helping
people when it comes to domestic violence
and also speaking and all of that.
(01:25):
So, yeah, that's kind of my life.
I'm sure we'll get more into it.
Gemma (01:29):
So absolutely so.
If today, we focus on miracles, as you went
from nothing to everything, that means that
you did experience some pretty mind-blowing
miracles.
Can you share a few of those stories?
We need to be uplifted here.
We need to look back hope and faith into
(01:51):
the divine and into serendipitous.
Ranika (01:56):
Yeah, absolutely.
Well, first of all, I want to say the fact
that I am Renika, right, a single mother of
five, sitting here talking to you and
smiling and laughing, I think that is a
miracle in and of itself and, in what I
believe, my right mind.
So that, right, there is a complete miracle,
I will say I come from an environment where
(02:16):
there's a lot of domestic violence, like I
said growing up, and so, in terms of
marriage, I just married into what was
familiar to me, right.
So I ended up being in a very difficult
marriage, having having five children,
right, but being able to to get out of that
and show my children something differently.
And when I did leave, I was pregnant with
(02:38):
our fifth child, and I had a lot of
complications, right, as you could expect,
which might just be complications that were
just going to happen anyway, or
complications from stress, right In the
situation that I was in.
And so it came to a point where I mean,
they told me kind of multiple things that
if I gave birth naturally, I either he
(03:01):
wouldn't survive or I wouldn't survive one
of them.
And you know, before then I was able to
have all four of my, my previous children,
naturally, and so I had to have a C-section
with our last child and it was.
We were preparing for him to be in the and
was it the NICU and and we're preparing for
complications Right when giving birth.
(03:22):
And I tell you, he came out.
He was the smallest of them all in terms of
weight, but he was the loudest of them all,
and so when I heard his cry I knew it was a
complete miracle from God.
Like this child is okay, like everything is
all right, and I think that in and of
itself is just a complete miracle.
(03:43):
Yeah, I don't know if we want to stop there,
but like that, when we talk about God and
our family and our kids and we talk about
miracles and they'll say, oh, like Josiah,
he was a miracle to our family.
So I tell my kids, like yes this is one of
the things where you can see God's hand,
like look at your brother, look at what God
does, yeah fascinating, fabulous.
Gemma (04:04):
You can really feel the presence of how
much you have faith, how much you believe,
how much you know it's all going to be all
right, it's all going to be taken care of,
every, every scene.
God provides always in any amazing ways,
but God provides always.
Ranika (04:26):
Yeah, yeah, that's how you believe.
Yeah, he always does, and I think it's
important for us to remember.
I think, as humans, a lot of times we
forget, right?
So most of the time, most days out, if it's
beautiful outside I live in the Carolinas
so we have beautiful skies I will literally
call my kids outside If I go out and take
(04:47):
the trash and I see the sky is beautiful, I
say come out, get out here and look at what
God has done, look at his canvas, look at
the miracle, so that we don't forget his
miracles and his goodness.
Right.
I went from an abusive relationship to
sleeping on a friend's floor right,
pregnant with my fifth child, and we all
were sleeping on that floor.
That was our first night right.
(05:09):
And now I have a home that I own and every
single day there's not a day that goes by
that I don't touch the doorknob, that I say
thank you Jesus, thank you God, right.
So the faith that we believe in is Jesus.
That's what I teach my children and I say
every day thank you Jesus for this home,
thank you so much.
Just the miracles, and I think sleeping on
(05:31):
someone's floor and going from nothing to
being in your own home and seeing the
goodness of God is, he does miracles every
day, it's just that we don't notice them
every day.
So just remembering the beauty of all those
miracles, yeah.
Gemma (05:48):
I completely understand that and thank you
for speaking into that.
So now imagine that in our audience we have
a few people who, indeed, are right now
experiencing that transition moment, when
sleeping on the floor the first night, when
being like ah, and now what?
(06:09):
And just like turning over to any um
episode on on podcast or anything and
finding a reason.
Please uplift me, because it hurts, okay.
So tell us a little bit how, how magical is
god's intervention in your daily life when
you are just like yearning for more and
(06:32):
basically you have life.
You're already grateful and hungry.
You still have to organize things around,
you still have to figure out a lot of
things and to feed all these little family,
and it's like Ooh yeah, yeah.
Ranika (06:48):
So what I will say right, I know this is
uplifting, right and so but I don't want to
move past the part Right, because I think
it is important in the upliftment part is
to feel all the things that you feel.
Right, oh, this is painful.
What am I going to do next?
Like, sit in that, don't fear that, but sit
in all the feelings that you feel,
(07:10):
everything that you have Sometimes in my
story.
I like to skip the part and say, yeah, I
went from sleeping on someone's floor to
now I'm on my own house and I forget to say,
and it was really hard and I was really
scared and I was afraid and I didn't know
what to do, and I sat and I prayed and I
cried and I was on my knees and I want to
tell you now, all those tears that I cried
(07:33):
are now.
The water from those tears are now falling
down on me like blessings, because I
remember all the tears, right, so, to be
able to sit in what you feel, and that is
okay, to not skip past those feelings.
But also I realized in during that time
there was still things to be grateful for.
(07:55):
People talk about like having this spirit
of gratitude and all these things like
there still are things to be grateful for
and gratitude and being able to find those
things which can be difficult, right when
everything around you seems hard, but it
can be.
Man, I had a conversation with my little
three-year-old and I didn't really know
(08:16):
everything that he was saying, but it was
funny and it was good and it was sweet.
Or I walked outside today and the sun just
touched my skin and I felt loved.
Or I heard a bird chirping, like just the
little things that we don't have time to do
and we're so busy doing like.
I think we can find gratitude in those
little things.
(08:37):
So I do think that those are things of hope,
but it is difficult.
I will say I've never been a person that
loves nature that was not me at all.
But now that I'm kind of out of an abusive
situation, I notice beauty around me,
everywhere.
It is all in our face, it's vibrant and
it's beautiful.
So, finding those places of gratitude If
(08:58):
you have one friend that you were able to
talk to today oh, thank you, god for that
friend Call them.
If you have somebody you can text today oh,
thank you that I have that person to to
today oh, thank you, god, for that friend
calling me.
If you have somebody you can text today, oh,
thank you that I have that person to text
today and just finding it in those little
things and building that muscle right of
like.
Okay, I found two things today.
Let me find three tomorrow where I can feel
(09:19):
gratitude, and they don't have to be these
huge things.
I got a $100,000 check in the mail.
No, no, no, no, no.
There's beauty all around us every day,
moment by moment.
So, yeah, that's amazing.
Gemma (09:32):
Thank you so much for sharing that.
I think that's true.
That's absolutely true.
When you choose to feel gratitude in your
daily life, at this moment in time, and to
focus on all the things that are doing well,
all those blessings that you still have,
(09:53):
even when you're losing things and people
and pets and love, even when you're losing
something so important to you, there is
never a better moment to be grateful,
because when you are grateful, you call in
more things to be grateful for.
That's one of the magic and one of the
(10:14):
uplifting, inspiring magic that we have
available to all of us, regardless of our
faith.
Yeah, gratitude and brings more things to
be grateful for anyway.
Ranika (10:28):
Yeah, yeah, very true.
And I think maybe this is where I could
tell my snicker story here.
And talking about gratitude and God taking
care of you, right Is that there was one
night I was craving a snicker bar, like
unbelievably right, there are things I
crave, I love chocolate, but this night it
was just unbelievable.
And I have this unbelievably right there
are things I crave, I love chocolate, but
this night it was just unbelievable.
And I have this thing right, I'm not gonna.
(10:48):
I was about to get in my car wasting gas,
just so I could get a snicker bar.
I said no, I'm not gonna do it.
So then the next day and I would not
believe this if someone told me I go to
church and then a lady walks up to me.
Up to me she said you know me and my
husband went on a trip and I had this
snicker bar in my purse and I felt like God
was just like give it to Renika.
(11:09):
And I was like are you serious?
Last night I really was craving like a
snicker bar.
And so I say that it's my snicker bar story
because it's so silly and it's so frivolous,
but to me it's silly, but I realized it was
God saying to me.
Not only am I going to take care of you and
your children, give you a home, provide for
what you need, but even the small desires
(11:31):
and whispers of your heart I hear and I got
you, I'm with you, and so that's what it
taught me.
It's not just the big things, it's these
little things, like we are seen, god sees
us and he's looking out for us, and he was
like.
I know this might seem silly to you, but I
wanted to show you that I also listened to
the small things and the desires of your
heart.
(11:51):
So that's my sweet little memory.
Gemma (11:54):
I love that story.
It's absolutely amazing.
Ranika (11:58):
Yeah.
Gemma (11:59):
One of the stories I got along the same
lines and that I was there.
Wow, okay, I'm going to accept to step into
having, like really that notion of having,
even though I have enough bills and got
somebody to pay.
So let's step into having.
(12:20):
It's not easy, but it's a choice and it's
just a shift of thought.
It is one thought away and I started to
look at my bills and feel paid, thank you,
it's paid.
Thank you, it's mine.
Thank you, it's taken care of.
It doesn't have to be paid by me, it is
(12:42):
just paid.
Doesn't have to be paid by me, it is just
paid.
It means that I keep my storage, I keep my
phone bill, I keep my insurance, I keep all
these things, and it's paid.
Thank you, thank you.
Thank you, mind you.
(13:04):
I got a phone call from a completely
unknown person who tells me about a former
rookie business I had in the Google Maps,
somewhere where I did not live at all
anymore.
And that person tells me well, can you give
me a Reiki session?
Yes, but I have to do it at a distance
because I do not live over there anymore
(13:26):
and I don't know how you found that number.
But yes, indeed, it's mine.
Yes, I can give you.
Okay, fine, okay, uh, yeah, uh.
But you know what she tells me.
I already am attuned to the Reiki so I
could give it to myself.
But please give it to me, I will, will pay
whatever you want.
Hey, at that moment in time I had to
(13:55):
instantly set a price on an energy exchange,
because that was her question how much does
it cost?
And I had to go super, super fast between
the value of the service and the exact
amount of money I needed to pay my bills so
that it balances quickly, effortlessly.
I don't remember.
I said the number bam, and she said sure,
(14:16):
can I give you that by PayPal or Zelle or
whatever?
Yes, in no time, I had money on my account
and I have some joy and pleasure to give
Reiki at a distance.
And she had joy and pleasure to feel that
healing energy through her and we were all
delighted, everybody was delighted.
It was like where do you come from?
(14:38):
I don't know.
Someone came out of the boat just calling
it in and it worked and it paid some bills
that needed to be paid and it's like whoa
fabulous fabulous.
Ranika (14:53):
There's a lot.
There are a lot of stories, I think, if we
actually think about it, that we can recall.
You know, sometimes it's hard and sometimes
things don't come.
A lot of times I think things don't come
the way that we think that they will come.
Another story that's coming to mind is when
I, after I bought my home, I said, man, I
really would love a play set for my kids.
(15:16):
And you know, we're driving through a
neighborhood, a neighborhood, a
neighborhood that I don't know if I could
afford to live in.
You know at that time neighborhood, a
neighborhood that I don't know if I could
afford to live in.
You know at that time, and right on the
sidewalk, this beautiful play set right
that they have, that's just sitting out and
I'm like God, you keep doing this.
We put it in our van, hold it in and they
(15:37):
played with it for a very long time.
How things don't maybe necessarily come in
the way that we want them to come or think
they will come.
But also, you and I are talking about money,
material things, but also for people to
find the joy in the things that are not
just money and material, the fact that I
can talk to you right now, Gemma, and not
(15:59):
be boggled down with just fear of abuse, of
the next thing that's going to come.
That's a miracle in and of itself, right?
The fact that I have community around me,
the fact that we have friends, people to
help us, like that, those are miracles and
beautiful things around us every single day,
just allowing us to see not just like the
(16:21):
material things that happen, which was so
great, but they're the internal things that
are, that are happening all day, every day.
You know as well for us to be mindful of
when we talk about miracles.
Yeah.
Gemma (16:34):
Yes, absolutely.
That is true.
When we talk about the abundant universe,
everything is a constant, inconstant
expansion.
Look at nature.
Nature cannot not grow and be lush and keep
on growing.
(16:56):
It has to be.
I was born and raised in Switzerland, where
there is 300 days per year with gray
weather and rain.
That means that the few pictures we take
and post are with gorgeous green meadows
and mountains and plains and everywhere.
(17:18):
Yeah, you can imagine, there is a lot of
rain, meaning that it's not easy to be
grateful when you live there.
However, I had a picture in my mind which
was absolutely self-evident is that all
plants on Earth are green, like in
Switzerland, Of course.
How else?
This is when I moved to California the
(17:38):
golden state why golden?
Because it's so dry, because of 200 days of
sun per year the contrary, you know.
And to actually notice that it was all
yellow because it was dried out because of
the sun At the beginning, the first weeks,
when I did move there, I was looking at
(17:59):
those meadows and thinking but where is
that green?
It's not normal.
Why is it dead?
And that was my misunderstanding and this
is how I discovered it and I actually asked
God like God, make some rain over here.
It's not normal to be that yellow
everywhere.
(18:22):
Mind you, the three next days were pouring
rain, California pouring rain, and of
course, what happens when it's pouring rain?
Everything goes blush and green in no time,
and that was my big discovery.
Then I looked at those golden meadows later
(18:45):
in the year and I said, yeah, it's not dead
at all.
It's dormant, waiting for the next drop of
water to just explode in that lush,
constant expansion that is nature.
Ranika (19:01):
Yeah, and see, that was perspective right
that you had on that Right.
Some people could look at that and say and
say rain like that's bad.
Why do we want rain and yet beauty and that
being things growing Right and what like.
So, in terms of you still finding something
right to be grateful for finding something,
and what's dry and what's dark and all that,
(19:24):
you still found something in your
perspective.
Gemma (19:26):
Yeah, exactly Because exactly you said that
changing perspective, that choice to be
grateful, that the choice to be grateful
actually activates the law of attraction.
Vibration, giving and receiving, all these
(19:47):
amazing universal, eternal laws are just
attracted by gratitude.
That's the first thing that you give out
gratitude, because the more you're grateful
for, the more you have things to be
grateful for.
Ranika (20:01):
Yeah, and I'm just thinking about the
people too, where you're talking about what,
if they're just going through it right now,
just thinking about that, where it is kind
of one of those things, how do you build
that?
How do you build gratefulness and gratitude?
When it is hard, when it is dark, where do
you get your light from?
And so, just being mindful of that as well,
(20:25):
where both things can be true, right, it
can be really hard and it can be really
painful, and you can also really find light
and sunshine and goodness all at the same
time.
Yeah, you don't have to trade one, you
don't have to say, oh, is all bad or okay,
I'm just gonna think it it's all all good
(20:47):
and I won't forget, I'll forget about the
bad.
No, it's okay, it's really hard and there's
some really beautiful things and it's
really dark and there's somewhere that you
can find light to.
We can hold both things to be true.
Gemma (21:00):
Yeah, yeah, I fully, fully agree.
What an uplifting episode.
Thank you so much, Ranika, for sharing and
chiming in with your experience, your
stories and raising five amazing kids with
love and gratitude and with all that faith.
I think that's the biggest blessing you are
(21:22):
for your kids.
Ranika (21:23):
Yeah, thank you so much.
I believe so too.
My faith I that I'm leaving for my family,
is that it has been none other than the
(21:47):
Lord himself, than Jesus Christ, who picked
us up up off the ground, turned us around,
and when I call on his name, I know that I
am free, I know that I'm saved, I know that
I'm helped, and so it's been such a huge
thing to be able to not see, but walk by
faith a lot of the times, and so much
gratitude, and I thank you so much, Gemma,
(22:07):
for having me.
Gemma (22:09):
It's my utmost honor and pleasure.
Thank you so much for being here today.
Absolutely.
Welcome to Uplift inspiring stories to
uplift the world.
I am Gemma Serenity, your host, and today
we have Ranika Shani joining us.
Ranika- is a single mother of five children,
and she experienced from nothing to
(00:22):
everything in a short lapse of time.
Let's talk today about miracles.
Welcome, Ranika.
Thank you so much, Ranika.
Tell us a little bit about yourself and
let's dive into a few miracles that you
have.
Ranika (00:41):
Yeah, absolutely.
First of all, I'm glad to be here, gemma.
All of our kind of pre-conversations I've
loved just talking to you, getting to know
you.
I'm originally from Louisiana, from the New
Orleans area.
St Rose grew up there.
That's my culture.
You know good food, good music, great
people.
I'm currently living in North Carolina and
(01:04):
if we are kind of talking on you know
miracles and all that kind of had a tough
childhood, tough marriage and, like you
said, kind of went from nothing in a sense
to having just lots of great things.
You know now own my own business, helping
people when it comes to domestic violence
and also speaking and all of that.
(01:25):
So, yeah, that's kind of my life.
I'm sure we'll get more into it.
Gemma (01:29):
So absolutely so.
If today, we focus on miracles, as you went
from nothing to everything, that means that
you did experience some pretty mind-blowing
miracles.
Can you share a few of those stories?
We need to be uplifted here.
We need to look back hope and faith into
(01:51):
the divine and into serendipitous.
Ranika (01:56):
Yeah, absolutely.
Well, first of all, I want to say the fact
that I am Renika, right, a single mother of
five, sitting here talking to you and
smiling and laughing, I think that is a
miracle in and of itself and, in what I
believe, my right mind.
So that, right, there is a complete miracle,
I will say I come from an environment where
(02:16):
there's a lot of domestic violence, like I
said growing up, and so, in terms of
marriage, I just married into what was
familiar to me, right.
So I ended up being in a very difficult
marriage, having having five children,
right, but being able to to get out of that
and show my children something differently.
And when I did leave, I was pregnant with
(02:38):
our fifth child, and I had a lot of
complications, right, as you could expect,
which might just be complications that were
just going to happen anyway, or
complications from stress, right In the
situation that I was in.
And so it came to a point where I mean,
they told me kind of multiple things that
if I gave birth naturally, I either he
(03:01):
wouldn't survive or I wouldn't survive one
of them.
And you know, before then I was able to
have all four of my, my previous children,
naturally, and so I had to have a C-section
with our last child and it was.
We were preparing for him to be in the and
was it the NICU and and we're preparing for
complications Right when giving birth.
(03:22):
And I tell you, he came out.
He was the smallest of them all in terms of
weight, but he was the loudest of them all,
and so when I heard his cry I knew it was a
complete miracle from God.
Like this child is okay, like everything is
all right, and I think that in and of
itself is just a complete miracle.
(03:43):
Yeah, I don't know if we want to stop there,
but like that, when we talk about God and
our family and our kids and we talk about
miracles and they'll say, oh, like Josiah,
he was a miracle to our family.
So I tell my kids, like yes this is one of
the things where you can see God's hand,
like look at your brother, look at what God
does, yeah fascinating, fabulous.
Gemma (04:04):
You can really feel the presence of how
much you have faith, how much you believe,
how much you know it's all going to be all
right, it's all going to be taken care of,
every, every scene.
God provides always in any amazing ways,
but God provides always.
Ranika (04:26):
Yeah, yeah, that's how you believe.
Yeah, he always does, and I think it's
important for us to remember.
I think, as humans, a lot of times we
forget, right?
So most of the time, most days out, if it's
beautiful outside I live in the Carolinas
so we have beautiful skies I will literally
call my kids outside If I go out and take
(04:47):
the trash and I see the sky is beautiful, I
say come out, get out here and look at what
God has done, look at his canvas, look at
the miracle, so that we don't forget his
miracles and his goodness.
Right.
I went from an abusive relationship to
sleeping on a friend's floor right,
pregnant with my fifth child, and we all
were sleeping on that floor.
That was our first night right.
(05:09):
And now I have a home that I own and every
single day there's not a day that goes by
that I don't touch the doorknob, that I say
thank you Jesus, thank you God, right.
So the faith that we believe in is Jesus.
That's what I teach my children and I say
every day thank you Jesus for this home,
thank you so much.
Just the miracles, and I think sleeping on
(05:31):
someone's floor and going from nothing to
being in your own home and seeing the
goodness of God is, he does miracles every
day, it's just that we don't notice them
every day.
So just remembering the beauty of all those
miracles, yeah.
Gemma (05:48):
I completely understand that and thank you
for speaking into that.
So now imagine that in our audience we have
a few people who, indeed, are right now
experiencing that transition moment, when
sleeping on the floor the first night, when
being like ah, and now what?
(06:09):
And just like turning over to any um
episode on on podcast or anything and
finding a reason.
Please uplift me, because it hurts, okay.
So tell us a little bit how, how magical is
god's intervention in your daily life when
you are just like yearning for more and
(06:32):
basically you have life.
You're already grateful and hungry.
You still have to organize things around,
you still have to figure out a lot of
things and to feed all these little family,
and it's like Ooh yeah, yeah.
Ranika (06:48):
So what I will say right, I know this is
uplifting, right and so but I don't want to
move past the part Right, because I think
it is important in the upliftment part is
to feel all the things that you feel.
Right, oh, this is painful.
What am I going to do next?
Like, sit in that, don't fear that, but sit
in all the feelings that you feel,
(07:10):
everything that you have Sometimes in my
story.
I like to skip the part and say, yeah, I
went from sleeping on someone's floor to
now I'm on my own house and I forget to say,
and it was really hard and I was really
scared and I was afraid and I didn't know
what to do, and I sat and I prayed and I
cried and I was on my knees and I want to
tell you now, all those tears that I cried
(07:33):
are now.
The water from those tears are now falling
down on me like blessings, because I
remember all the tears, right, so, to be
able to sit in what you feel, and that is
okay, to not skip past those feelings.
But also I realized in during that time
there was still things to be grateful for.
(07:55):
People talk about like having this spirit
of gratitude and all these things like
there still are things to be grateful for
and gratitude and being able to find those
things which can be difficult, right when
everything around you seems hard, but it
can be.
Man, I had a conversation with my little
three-year-old and I didn't really know
(08:16):
everything that he was saying, but it was
funny and it was good and it was sweet.
Or I walked outside today and the sun just
touched my skin and I felt loved.
Or I heard a bird chirping, like just the
little things that we don't have time to do
and we're so busy doing like.
I think we can find gratitude in those
little things.
(08:37):
So I do think that those are things of hope,
but it is difficult.
I will say I've never been a person that
loves nature that was not me at all.
But now that I'm kind of out of an abusive
situation, I notice beauty around me,
everywhere.
It is all in our face, it's vibrant and
it's beautiful.
So, finding those places of gratitude If
(08:58):
you have one friend that you were able to
talk to today oh, thank you, god for that
friend Call them.
If you have somebody you can text today oh,
thank you that I have that person to to
today oh, thank you, god, for that friend
calling me.
If you have somebody you can text today, oh,
thank you that I have that person to text
today and just finding it in those little
things and building that muscle right of
like.
Okay, I found two things today.
Let me find three tomorrow where I can feel
(09:19):
gratitude, and they don't have to be these
huge things.
I got a $100,000 check in the mail.
No, no, no, no, no.
There's beauty all around us every day,
moment by moment.
So, yeah, that's amazing.
Gemma (09:32):
Thank you so much for sharing that.
I think that's true.
That's absolutely true.
When you choose to feel gratitude in your
daily life, at this moment in time, and to
focus on all the things that are doing well,
all those blessings that you still have,
(09:53):
even when you're losing things and people
and pets and love, even when you're losing
something so important to you, there is
never a better moment to be grateful,
because when you are grateful, you call in
more things to be grateful for.
That's one of the magic and one of the
(10:14):
uplifting, inspiring magic that we have
available to all of us, regardless of our
faith.
Yeah, gratitude and brings more things to
be grateful for anyway.
Ranika (10:28):
Yeah, yeah, very true.
And I think maybe this is where I could
tell my snicker story here.
And talking about gratitude and God taking
care of you, right Is that there was one
night I was craving a snicker bar, like
unbelievably right, there are things I
crave, I love chocolate, but this night it
was just unbelievable.
And I have this unbelievably right there
are things I crave, I love chocolate, but
this night it was just unbelievable.
And I have this thing right, I'm not gonna.
(10:48):
I was about to get in my car wasting gas,
just so I could get a snicker bar.
I said no, I'm not gonna do it.
So then the next day and I would not
believe this if someone told me I go to
church and then a lady walks up to me.
Up to me she said you know me and my
husband went on a trip and I had this
snicker bar in my purse and I felt like God
was just like give it to Renika.
(11:09):
And I was like are you serious?
Last night I really was craving like a
snicker bar.
And so I say that it's my snicker bar story
because it's so silly and it's so frivolous,
but to me it's silly, but I realized it was
God saying to me.
Not only am I going to take care of you and
your children, give you a home, provide for
what you need, but even the small desires
(11:31):
and whispers of your heart I hear and I got
you, I'm with you, and so that's what it
taught me.
It's not just the big things, it's these
little things, like we are seen, god sees
us and he's looking out for us, and he was
like.
I know this might seem silly to you, but I
wanted to show you that I also listened to
the small things and the desires of your
heart.
(11:51):
So that's my sweet little memory.
Gemma (11:54):
I love that story.
It's absolutely amazing.
Ranika (11:58):
Yeah.
Gemma (11:59):
One of the stories I got along the same
lines and that I was there.
Wow, okay, I'm going to accept to step into
having, like really that notion of having,
even though I have enough bills and got
somebody to pay.
So let's step into having.
(12:20):
It's not easy, but it's a choice and it's
just a shift of thought.
It is one thought away and I started to
look at my bills and feel paid, thank you,
it's paid.
Thank you, it's mine.
Thank you, it's taken care of.
It doesn't have to be paid by me, it is
(12:42):
just paid.
Doesn't have to be paid by me, it is just
paid.
It means that I keep my storage, I keep my
phone bill, I keep my insurance, I keep all
these things, and it's paid.
Thank you, thank you.
Thank you, mind you.
(13:04):
I got a phone call from a completely
unknown person who tells me about a former
rookie business I had in the Google Maps,
somewhere where I did not live at all
anymore.
And that person tells me well, can you give
me a Reiki session?
Yes, but I have to do it at a distance
because I do not live over there anymore
(13:26):
and I don't know how you found that number.
But yes, indeed, it's mine.
Yes, I can give you.
Okay, fine, okay, uh, yeah, uh.
But you know what she tells me.
I already am attuned to the Reiki so I
could give it to myself.
But please give it to me, I will, will pay
whatever you want.
Hey, at that moment in time I had to
(13:55):
instantly set a price on an energy exchange,
because that was her question how much does
it cost?
And I had to go super, super fast between
the value of the service and the exact
amount of money I needed to pay my bills so
that it balances quickly, effortlessly.
I don't remember.
I said the number bam, and she said sure,
(14:16):
can I give you that by PayPal or Zelle or
whatever?
Yes, in no time, I had money on my account
and I have some joy and pleasure to give
Reiki at a distance.
And she had joy and pleasure to feel that
healing energy through her and we were all
delighted, everybody was delighted.
It was like where do you come from?
(14:38):
I don't know.
Someone came out of the boat just calling
it in and it worked and it paid some bills
that needed to be paid and it's like whoa
fabulous fabulous.
Ranika (14:53):
There's a lot.
There are a lot of stories, I think, if we
actually think about it, that we can recall.
You know, sometimes it's hard and sometimes
things don't come.
A lot of times I think things don't come
the way that we think that they will come.
Another story that's coming to mind is when
I, after I bought my home, I said, man, I
really would love a play set for my kids.
(15:16):
And you know, we're driving through a
neighborhood, a neighborhood, a
neighborhood that I don't know if I could
afford to live in.
You know at that time neighborhood, a
neighborhood that I don't know if I could
afford to live in.
You know at that time, and right on the
sidewalk, this beautiful play set right
that they have, that's just sitting out and
I'm like God, you keep doing this.
We put it in our van, hold it in and they
(15:37):
played with it for a very long time.
How things don't maybe necessarily come in
the way that we want them to come or think
they will come.
But also, you and I are talking about money,
material things, but also for people to
find the joy in the things that are not
just money and material, the fact that I
can talk to you right now, Gemma, and not
(15:59):
be boggled down with just fear of abuse, of
the next thing that's going to come.
That's a miracle in and of itself, right?
The fact that I have community around me,
the fact that we have friends, people to
help us, like that, those are miracles and
beautiful things around us every single day,
just allowing us to see not just like the
(16:21):
material things that happen, which was so
great, but they're the internal things that
are, that are happening all day, every day.
You know as well for us to be mindful of
when we talk about miracles.
Yeah.
Gemma (16:34):
Yes, absolutely.
That is true.
When we talk about the abundant universe,
everything is a constant, inconstant
expansion.
Look at nature.
Nature cannot not grow and be lush and keep
on growing.
(16:56):
It has to be.
I was born and raised in Switzerland, where
there is 300 days per year with gray
weather and rain.
That means that the few pictures we take
and post are with gorgeous green meadows
and mountains and plains and everywhere.
(17:18):
Yeah, you can imagine, there is a lot of
rain, meaning that it's not easy to be
grateful when you live there.
However, I had a picture in my mind which
was absolutely self-evident is that all
plants on Earth are green, like in
Switzerland, Of course.
How else?
This is when I moved to California the
(17:38):
golden state why golden?
Because it's so dry, because of 200 days of
sun per year the contrary, you know.
And to actually notice that it was all
yellow because it was dried out because of
the sun At the beginning, the first weeks,
when I did move there, I was looking at
(17:59):
those meadows and thinking but where is
that green?
It's not normal.
Why is it dead?
And that was my misunderstanding and this
is how I discovered it and I actually asked
God like God, make some rain over here.
It's not normal to be that yellow
everywhere.
(18:22):
Mind you, the three next days were pouring
rain, California pouring rain, and of
course, what happens when it's pouring rain?
Everything goes blush and green in no time,
and that was my big discovery.
Then I looked at those golden meadows later
(18:45):
in the year and I said, yeah, it's not dead
at all.
It's dormant, waiting for the next drop of
water to just explode in that lush,
constant expansion that is nature.
Ranika (19:01):
Yeah, and see, that was perspective right
that you had on that Right.
Some people could look at that and say and
say rain like that's bad.
Why do we want rain and yet beauty and that
being things growing Right and what like.
So, in terms of you still finding something
right to be grateful for finding something,
and what's dry and what's dark and all that,
(19:24):
you still found something in your
perspective.
Gemma (19:26):
Yeah, exactly Because exactly you said that
changing perspective, that choice to be
grateful, that the choice to be grateful
actually activates the law of attraction.
Vibration, giving and receiving, all these
(19:47):
amazing universal, eternal laws are just
attracted by gratitude.
That's the first thing that you give out
gratitude, because the more you're grateful
for, the more you have things to be
grateful for.
Ranika (20:01):
Yeah, and I'm just thinking about the
people too, where you're talking about what,
if they're just going through it right now,
just thinking about that, where it is kind
of one of those things, how do you build
that?
How do you build gratefulness and gratitude?
When it is hard, when it is dark, where do
you get your light from?
And so, just being mindful of that as well,
(20:25):
where both things can be true, right, it
can be really hard and it can be really
painful, and you can also really find light
and sunshine and goodness all at the same
time.
Yeah, you don't have to trade one, you
don't have to say, oh, is all bad or okay,
I'm just gonna think it it's all all good
(20:47):
and I won't forget, I'll forget about the
bad.
No, it's okay, it's really hard and there's
some really beautiful things and it's
really dark and there's somewhere that you
can find light to.
We can hold both things to be true.
Gemma (21:00):
Yeah, yeah, I fully, fully agree.
What an uplifting episode.
Thank you so much, Ranika, for sharing and
chiming in with your experience, your
stories and raising five amazing kids with
love and gratitude and with all that faith.
I think that's the biggest blessing you are
(21:22):
for your kids.
Ranika (21:23):
Yeah, thank you so much.
I believe so too.
My faith I that I'm leaving for my family,
is that it has been none other than the
(21:47):
Lord himself, than Jesus Christ, who picked
us up up off the ground, turned us around,
and when I call on his name, I know that I
am free, I know that I'm saved, I know that
I'm helped, and so it's been such a huge
thing to be able to not see, but walk by
faith a lot of the times, and so much
gratitude, and I thank you so much, Gemma,
(22:07):
for having me.
Gemma (22:09):
It's my utmost honor and pleasure.
Thank you so much for being here today.
Absolutely.
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