The privilege of this day

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Take a moment from time to time to remember that you are alive. I know this sounds a trifle obvious, but it is amazing how little time we take to remark upon this singular and gratifying fact. By the most astounding stroke of luck an infinitesimal portion of all the matter in the universe came together to create you and for the tiniest moment in the great span of eternity you have the incomparable privilege to exist.

Bill Bryson, 10 Simple Rules for Happiness, Graduate College Commencement Ceremony Address

Healing presence

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When we experience pure silence in the mind, the body becomes silent also.

And in that field of silence, healing is much more efficient.

Deepak Chopra

No other life

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In yourself right now, is all the place you’ve got

Flannery O’Connor, Wise Blood

This place where you are right now, God circled on a map for you.

Hafiz

Sunday Quote: Embrace

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Morning to night I am never done with looking

Looking, I mean not just standing around

but standing around as though with your arms open

Mary Oliver, Where Does the Temple Begin, Where Does It End?

No particular way

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The more things go “our way” for a while, the more we can believe that that is the way it is supposed to be. And when things don’t go “our way,” which sooner or later they will not, we can get angry, disappointed, depressed, devastated……… forgetting that it was never “supposed to be” any one way at all.

Jon Kabat-Zinn, Arriving at your own Door

Protect and care

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The Shambhala teachings speak of  “placing our fearful mind in the cradle of loving-kindness.” Another image for maitri is that of a mother bird who protects and cares for her young until they are strong enough to fly away.  People sometimes ask, “Who am I in this image – the mother or the chick. The answer is both….Without loving kindness for ourselves it is difficult if not impossible to genuinely feel it for others.

Pema Chodron, Comfortable with Uncertainty