Courage is not the absence of fear.
It is the presence of clarity.
Deng Ming-Dao, 365 Tao: Daily Meditations,
Clear purpose
Tag: Be fully present
just mind the present
It has been well said that no man ever sank under the burden of the day.
It is when tomorrow’s burden is added to the burden of today that the weight is more than a man can bear.
Never load yourselves so, my friends. If you find yourselves so loaded, at least remember this: it is your own doing, not God’s.
He begs you to leave the future to Him, and mind the present.
George MacDonald, 1824 – 1905 Scottish author, poet and Christian minister.
a simple mantra
I have a simple mantra for remembering the laws of nature: life is not personal, permanent, or perfect.
I [have] discovered that awareness can ride the energies of persistent and disturbing thoughts and emotions without interference or personalization.
Reminding myself that life is not personal, permanent, or perfect has kept me from falling into sinkholes of despair and destroying rooms with rage. It invites me to pause and turn inward.
Ruth King, Wholeness Is No Trifling Matter
Sunday quote: Strength
Strength is our willingness to stay present in the face of uncertainty
Elizabeth Mattis‑Namgyel, The Power of an Open Question: The Buddha’s Path to Freedom
Rain falls without asking permission, without apology, without concern for our plans. We are invited – challenged – to meet life and the weather — not by resisting, but by allowing. This is far from passivity; it is intimacy with reality.
For after all, the best thing one can do
when it is raining
is to let it rain.
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Tales of a Wayside Inn (1863),
Going through the desert
A bit far from our experience here in Ireland these days with constant rain and flooding. However, it is not a bad practice.
Try this: Think of a current “drought” in your life.
For 10 minutes, just trust that it will all be okay. Trust that you’re being guided.
Trust, against all odds and evidence, that you are safe. When I use this exercise on my drought fears, the strangest thing happens: I feel it raining inside myself. I become a microcosm of the life-giving rain that, someday, will bring California back to life. Or so I trust.
Martha Beck
Mindfulbalance 