If one only wished to be happy, this could be easily accomplished;
but we wish to be happier than other people, and this is always difficult, for we believe others to be happier than they are.
Montesquieu, French lawyer and philosopher, 1689 – 1755
photo michael johnston
Often we find it easier to think our way around things
rather than to feel our way through them
Mark Nepo, The Book of Awakening
photo rudi winter
If we can possibly learn to trust darkness, to understand that life is a pattern of starts and stops, of celebrating the past, of coming to terms with the present and of believing the future to be kind, then we can come to understand that the dark parts are only those closing-down moments, like flowers at night, till the sun shines again……Darkness deserves gratitude. It is the alleluia point at which we learn to understand that not all growth takes place in the sunlight.
Joan Chittister, For all that Has Been, Thanks
photo 4028mdk09
The question of the first half of life is “What is the world asking of me?” …. The question for the second half is, however, quite different, “What now does the soul ask of me?” Another way of putting the first question is …. Do you have enough energy, courage, resourcefulness, to enter into this world, take on its demands, and create your own conscious place in it? In the second half of life the question becomes Who, now, apart from the roles you play, are you? Do you have the wherewithal to shift course, deconstruct your painfully achieved identity, risking failure, marginalization and loss of collective approval…. The whole … [of this part] … of life calls us to a spiritual, by which I mean psychological, agenda, while maintaining one’s participation in the social community.
James Hollis, On this Journey we call Our Life: Living the Questions
Without darkness nothing comes to birth,
As without light nothing flowers.
May Sarton
photo olybrius
A long weekend here in Ireland, so a chance to refresh and nourish ourselves, taking a step back to notice compulsive running, outside and inside our minds. Meditation practice is more about settling back into something that is already present, rather than a need to “achieve” a goal, even a “good” or “calm” goal. Often this desire to achieve is based on a perfect image of ourselves and just fuels an underlying feeling that we are lacking in a fundamental way, needing to be supported and held up.
Empty your mind of all thoughts. Let your heart be at peace.
Watch the turmoil of beings, but contemplate their return.
Each separate being in the universe returns to the common source.
Returning to the source is serenity.
Lao Tzu
with thanks to dear friend Patrick for the picture from his mountain walks in France
Mindfulbalance 