When we are not dwelling in the present moment and our mind is wandering around, we are not aware of what is happening in out body and in our mind. We are like sleep walkers. Waking up is another way of saying “enlightenment” or “awakening”. Waking up is the reminder for us to be awake in everything we do during the day, not just in the morning while we get up. It is awakening in each moment, while we are drinking tea, brushing our teeth, going for a walk. Waking up should be the essence of each moment
Thich Nhat Hahn
Just do your best. This is the whole practice , the whole of your life. All sorts of chatter comes up in the midst of the circumstances of our life. Something breaks, we clean it up or fix it up. Or we start chattering about “Why does this happen to me. Oh, I always do this. What Am I going to do? What does this mean?” After speaking with someone, do we continue holding onto the discussion with internal chatter like, “Why did they say that
Pleasant conditions change into unpleasant ones, and unpleasant conditions eventually become pleasant. We should just keep this awareness of impermanence and be at peace with the way things are, not demanding that they be otherwise. The people we live with, the places we live in, the society we are a part of – we should just be at peace with everything. But most of all we should be at peace with ourselves-that is the big lesson to learn in life. It is really hard to be at peace with oneself. I find that most people have a lot of self-aversion. It is much better to be at peace with our own bodies and minds than anything else, and not demand that they be perfect, that we be perfect, or that everything be good. We can be at peace with the good and the bad. 
The on-the-spot practice of being fully present, feeling your heart and greeting the next moment with an open mind can be done at any time: when you wake up in the morning, before a difficulty conversation, whenever fear or discomfort arises. This practice is a beautiful way to claim… your courage, your kindness, your kindness, your strength. Whenever it occurs to you, you can pause briefly, touch in with how you’re feeling both physically and mentally, and then connect with your heart – even putting your hand on your heart if you want to. This is a way of extending warmth and acceptance to whatever is going on for you right now.
The first snow fell yesterday. A strong stormy wind blows this morning, scattering the leaves which begin now to fall in earnest. Shorter days. The changing outside weather impresses itself on our inner life, challenging our “routines” and confusing the body. It reminds us of rhythms and patterns in a world that loves predictability, and of things passing through when we foolishly give permanence to our mind states:
