More from How to Love by Thich Nhat Han:
"Practicing loving kindness meditation is like digging deep into the ground until we reach the purest water. We look deeply into ourselves until insight arises and our love flows to the surface. Joy and happiness radiate from our eyes, and everyone around us benefits from our smile and our presence. If we take good care of ourselves, we help everyone. We stop being a source of suffering to the world, and we become a reservoir of joy and freshness. Here and there are people who know how to take good care of themselves, who live joyfully and happily. They are our strongest support. Whatever they do, they do for everyone."
Sometimes I am this kind of person. On days where I walk down the street (or down the halls of my school) and look each person I pass in the eyes and smile with my heart, I know I am in the flow of things. I'm not rushing. I'm in the present moment. I'm there. Ready to listen. Not caught up in my own to-do list, thought process or story. It is so much easier to be this kind of person right now, in the summertime, when I'm not working and my to-do list is much shorter. There is vastly more space in my days and much less stress. I'm savoring each slow day. I don't even need mindfulness practices so much right now.
About two weeks before I have to go back to work, I typically start to feel anxious about returning to the grind, having my kids back in school and getting back on the hamster wheel. But each year, as I study mindfulness and work on myself, I get a little better at the job of taking care of myself, so I expect to do even better with staying present and mindful during the school year. This summer, when August approaches, I aspire to transmute this anxiety through exercise, time in nature, quiet time, and quality time with my family.
Please comment if something in this post resonates with you and take good care of yourself today!
"Practicing loving kindness meditation is like digging deep into the ground until we reach the purest water. We look deeply into ourselves until insight arises and our love flows to the surface. Joy and happiness radiate from our eyes, and everyone around us benefits from our smile and our presence. If we take good care of ourselves, we help everyone. We stop being a source of suffering to the world, and we become a reservoir of joy and freshness. Here and there are people who know how to take good care of themselves, who live joyfully and happily. They are our strongest support. Whatever they do, they do for everyone."
Sometimes I am this kind of person. On days where I walk down the street (or down the halls of my school) and look each person I pass in the eyes and smile with my heart, I know I am in the flow of things. I'm not rushing. I'm in the present moment. I'm there. Ready to listen. Not caught up in my own to-do list, thought process or story. It is so much easier to be this kind of person right now, in the summertime, when I'm not working and my to-do list is much shorter. There is vastly more space in my days and much less stress. I'm savoring each slow day. I don't even need mindfulness practices so much right now.
About two weeks before I have to go back to work, I typically start to feel anxious about returning to the grind, having my kids back in school and getting back on the hamster wheel. But each year, as I study mindfulness and work on myself, I get a little better at the job of taking care of myself, so I expect to do even better with staying present and mindful during the school year. This summer, when August approaches, I aspire to transmute this anxiety through exercise, time in nature, quiet time, and quality time with my family.
Please comment if something in this post resonates with you and take good care of yourself today!
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