Tag: Awareness

A little light

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Often we want to be able to see into the future. We say “How will the next year be for me? Where will I be five or ten years from now?” There are no answers to these questions. Mostly we have just enough light to see the next step: what we have to do the coming hour or the following day. The art of living is to enjoy what we can see and not complain about what remains in the dark. When we are able to take the next step that follows, with the trust that we will have enough light for the step that follows, we can walk through life with joy and be surprised at how far we go. Let’s rejoice in the little light we carry and not ask for the great beam that would take all shadows away.

Henri Nouwen

Constructing our self

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mirrorEvery single moment of consciousness is a moment of practice, whether we like it or not. We are practicing to become ourselves. The important question is really just how much we want to participate in the process.

Andrew Olendzki, Unlimiting Mind

Being with, giving attention

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What are human beings that you are mindful of them, mortals that you care for them. Psalm 4

Mindfulness is love that resists distraction. It is a staunch refusal to fall into absentmindedness. It is focused, sustained attention toward the beloved. In this way, mindfulness seems less tied to the cognitive functions of the mind and closer to what we call an act of will. Mindfulness is choosing to cherish and then choosing – again and again – never to back away from that initial decision. Devoted spouses, dedicated friends, caring parents are all mindful of the ones they love. Above all else, God is mindful of humanity. On the basis of this primal act of divine will, we can be assured that God’s attention never wavers.

Mark Ralls, Living by the  Word: Mindful

….in the ordinary moments of this life.

Karl Duffy1 Comment

Today’s society encourages the idea that our lives need to be full of activity and excitement for them to be significant. However, today’s celebration reminds us that it is in the ordinary that the deepest meaning can be found, in the small hidden village not the vibrant main city, in the ordinary gestures now not the special once-off occasions sometime somewhere else. Our lives too are made up of moments,  giving us opportunities for care and attention here and now, in the reality of our lives, not in some future imagined moment.

The more complicated our lives are, the more important it is to live in the present moment — otherwise we’ll miss much of our lives. Mindful parenting is about moment-to-moment, open-hearted and non-judgmental attention. It’s about seeing our children as they are, not as we want them to be. It means you become less attached to outcomes and more mindful of what’s unfolding in your life. As a parent, you can’t withdraw to a cave to meditate. It’s all about now. When you tune into the breath and sensations in the body, you are stepping outside of time. Moment-to-moment, non-judgmental awareness cultivated by paying attention — we are all capable of this. Mindfulness actually saves us a tremendous amount of time because we don’t go down so many dead ends with our thoughts. It doesn’t take any more time to be more mindful. It’s not a philosophy, it’s a practice. You don’t have to get less busy or fix anything. Simply reclaim your moments by showing up for them. The more “speedy” your life is, the more oxygen this practice gives you.

Jon Kabat Zinn

Happiness in our own hands….

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Why cannot we be content with the secret gift of happiness that is offered to us, without consulting the rest of the world? Why do we insist rather on a happiness that is approved by magazines and TV? Perhaps because we do not believe in a happiness that is given to us for nothing? We do not think we can be happy with a happiness that has no price tag on it.

Thomas Merton

Coming home

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The world cannot be discovered by a journey of miles, no matter how long, but only by a spiritual journey, a journey of one inch, very arduous and humbling and joyful, by which we arrive at the ground at our feet, and learn to be at home.

Wendell Berry