Sometimes the most important thing
in a whole day
is the rest we take between two deep breaths.
Etty Hillesum
Like most of the great spiritual masters of our universe, Jesus taught from the conviction that we human beings are victims of a tragic case of mistaken identity. The person I normally take myself to be – that busy, anxious little ‘I’ so preoccupied with its goals, fears, desires, and issues — is never even remotely the whole of who I am, and to seek the fulfillment of my life at this level means to miss out on the bigger life. This is why, according to his teaching, the one who tries to keep his ‘life’ (i.e., the small one) will lose it, and the one who is willing to lose it will find the real thing.
Cynthia Bourgeault, Centering Prayer and Inner Awakening
Do you notice a tendency to measure or compare yourself with others or with the easy happiness which is portrayed in the media?
We hear, imagine and watch so many stories! Our life is becoming more and more inundated with TV shows, movies, magazines, and newspaper articles that seem to show us what life is like. And then the inevitable comparisons arise: “My life isn?t like that” or “I wish it were” or “It is exactly like that”. The moment we notice painful or sad feelings arising from thoughts like “I’m unloved. I feel separate and isolated” can we immediately stop, look and listen, instead of going on weaving fancy narratives about ourselves? Can we stop and ask “Where is this feeling coming from?” Right now. Asking right this moment. Becoming more transparent to thoughts and images that evoke these feelings and then deepen, embellish, and propagate them.
Toni Parker, The Silent Question
It is good to examine the reasons why we find fault with others or gossip or blame them for things that have happened. Often we will see, if we look deeply enough, that these behaviours are rooted in fear. Fear and anxiety evolved to keep us from physical danger. Our brains use the same mechanisms when it comes to emotional danger also, and depending on the upbringing we have, we can find that we expend a lot of energy each day dealing with fear. This underlying fear is not easy to work with; however, acknowledging it and becoming aware of our instinct to run away or cover it up with distractions, relationships and busyness, is a necessary starting point. We practice looking at what scares us and opening to all that life offers. We develop a greater compassion towards ourselves and our confidence can grow.
If we are honest with ourselves,
most of us will have to admit that we live out our lives in an ocean of fear.
Jon Kabat Zinn
Work can never tire you!
What tires you are your worries about the past and anxieties about the future.
Swami Parthasaraty, TIME Magazine, October 2007
We cannot always change the perplexing conditions of our lives
– but we can change how our minds relate to them.
Tara Bennett-Goleman
Mindfulbalance 