Learning to stop

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A lot of rain these last few days….

Be silent,
as when the rain stops,
and the trees in the orchard
begin to draw moisture
up into themselves.

Rumi, You are the Only Student you Have

photo keith salvesan

Playing chasing

File:US Navy 110301-N-4920H-107 Chief Operations Specialist Steven Rowlands avoids a tag during a game of nap lungdy during a community service event at.jpg

As long as we chase the myth, trying to get happiness by attempting to manipulate and control life – whether through trying harder to succeed, trying to please others, seeking comfort and diversions or even using spiritual practice to become calm –  we will continue to trap ourselves on the roller coaster cycle of personal happiness and unhappiness, And sadly we will never taste the true contentment that comes when we learn how to stay present with what is, exactly as it is.

Ezra Bayda, Beyond Happiness

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A contented mind

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Great wealth consists in living on a little with a contented mind;

for of a little there is never a lack.

Lucretius, Roman poet c 99 BC – 55 BC,  On the Nature of Things Book 5,  1118-1120

photo Suriya Donavanik

A wise path

File:Stepping stones on the Allt Smoo, by Durness - geograph.org.uk - 922020.jpg

Do your work, then step back

The only path to serenity

Lao Tzu

photo AlastairG

Sunday Quote: We can be heroes

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The only heroism is to see reality as it is and love it.

Romain Rolland, 1866 – 1944, French Writer, Nobel Prize 1915.

Ithamalfonso melog

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Where the heart is…

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Here is one simple exercise to help us discover what we love. Looks to see where we give our time and attention. Attention is the physical manifestation of love. If I keep pushing my children away when they want me to play with them, they do not feel loved. I may have love in my heart; I may feel joy when I see them, and want only the best for them. But they will feel my love only when I turn around and give them my undivided attention. Through my attention, they experience my love. Attention is a tangible measure of love. Whatever receives our time and attention becomes the center of gravity, the focus of our life. This is what we do with what we love: We allow it to become our center.

Wayne Muller, How then Shall We live: Four Simple Questions that Reveal the Beauty and Meaning of Our Lives

photo joao pimentel ferreira