Gratefulness is the key to a happy life that we hold in our hands, because if we are not grateful, then no matter how much we have we will not be happy—because we will always want to have something else or something more.
David Steindl-Rast
Tag: balance
Something more important
Speed gives life a frantic quality. It is an anxious state of mind that keeps us from settling into whatever we are doing. There is always something more important than what we’re doing now. We’re double-parked outside a store, trying to find what we need, while talking to our mother on the cell-phone. Rather than accomplishing our activity well, we are nullifying it, because we aren’t really there for it. That self-generated speed creates its own power and momentum, which begin to rule us. It’s a form of small-mindedness that blinds us to what life really offers — the opportunity to develop wisdom and compassion.
Wisdom tells us that we are meant to enjoy our life and use it in a meaningful way. A successful life is not determined by the speed with which we live. If we’re always flapping our wings, endlessly trying to get what we need with aggression, we will always be exhausted. We’ll never find what we’re really looking for, which is our own contentment.
Sakyong Mipham Rinpoche
photo Katy Warner
Gently appreciating
If we are willing to take an unbiased look, we will find that, in spite of all of our problems and confusion, all our emotional and psychological ups and down, there is something basically good about our existence as human beings. Every human being has a basic nature of goodness, which is undiluted and unconfused. That goodness contains tremendous gentleness and appreciation.
Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche
Gently breathing
If things get busy today,
a simple practice of reconnecting with the rhythm of breathing can help
Breathing in I calm my body and mind.
Breathing out I smile.
Thich Nhat Hanh
What I am living for
If you want to identify me, ask me not where I live, or what I like to eat, or how I comb my hair,
but ask me what I am living for, in detail,
ask me what I think is keeping me from living fully for the thing I want to live for.
Thomas Merton
All that glitters
Our minds are like crows.
They pick up everything that glitters,
no matter how uncomfortable our nests get with all that metal in them
Thomas Merton
