Category: Make the most of life

Unreal Expectations

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Renunciation is not the same as giving up pleasure or denying ourselves happiness. It means giving up our unreal expectations about ordinary pleasures. These expectations themselves are what turn pleasure into pain… Simply stated, renunciation is the feeling of being so completely fed up with our recurring problems that we are finally ready to turn away from our attachments to this and that and begin searching for another way to make our life meaningful… To develop renunciation means to realize how our ordinary reliance on pleasure is preventing us from tasting a higher, more complete happiness

Lama Yeshe

Sunday quote: where to place our attention

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The art of being wise is the art of knowing what to overlook.

William James

Patience means letting things develop in their own time

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The gusts of wind have blown any remaining  leaves off  the trees. They lie in large piles on the ground, bright yellow and orange. The end of another cycle.

The leaves have almost completely covered
the backyard, and there are leaves to fall.
The wind whistles through its thin teeth
and no one seems to mind. For weeks we
have watched from windows, seen colors
changing, but not talked about it. One night,
when we went to gather another load
of wood, we heard the dead leaves crunch
beneath our feet. Now a light snow has begun
to touch the trees and the woodpile, first
fingerprinting them, then blurring, blending
everything in. Someday, I may get around
to saying what I’ve been thinking for months.

William Virgil Davis , Leaves,

Create joy

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Life will bring you pain all by itself.

Your responsibility is to create joy

Milton Erikson, American Psychologist,

Starting over

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In the Christian liturgical tradition today is the last day of the year, with Advent starting this evening,  marking the start of a New Year. It is as good a time as any other to make this change, and certainly less commercial and not as hyped than the 31st of December. One way or the other,  there are themes in nature and in different cultures at this time of the year and as winter approaches – letting go, slowing down, taking stock, welcoming change, seeking more light in the dark corners of our hearts:

For last year’s words
belong to last year’s language
and next year’s words
await another voice.

And to make an end
is to make a beginning.

T.S. Eliot

What needs to be let go

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A short quote today from Andy Puddicombe, creator of the Headspace site, which does well in demystifying meditation and presenting it in a modern format. Some people have told me that they find their app a useful way of keeping their practice going, and in this modern age, technology can be sometimes helpful, even if its overall effect may be to fragment our capacity for attention. You may like to check it out here: http://www.getsomeheadspace.com/benefits-of-meditation.aspx

The journey to acceptance is about discovering what we need to let go of, rather than what we need to start doing. By noticing moments of resistance throughout the day, you can start to become more aware of what prevents acceptance from naturally arising. This in turn will allow you to view the thoughts and feelings that arise during your meditation with a much greater sense of ease.

Andy Puddicombe, Ten Tips for Living more Mindfully