May You Have Many Worries
“I vow to let go of all worries and anxiety in order to be light and free.” ~Thich Nhat Hanh My mother was what you might call a “professional worrier.” She worried with skill, power, and acumen. She could incisively hone in on the most seemingly benign situation and find within it some kernel of [...]
Be Wisely Invested: Every emotion has something to sell you . . .
Imagine that you have a pocket full of money, representing your time. Pennies that are seconds, nickels that are minutes, dimes that are hours, quarters that are days, bills that are months, years, and decades. If time was money, how would you spend it?You walk into a market where emotions are selling their wares. There [...]
Be Present: Ten years from now, what will have mattered to our children?
Ten years from now . . . Remember: If it will have mattered in ten years, it matters now.Ten years from now, it won’t have mattered whether or not the sink was perfectly scrubbed. Ten years from now it will have mattered that I stopped scrubbing the sink to listen to a problem they were [...]
How To Be Compassionate: Stuck in traffic? Maybe you are behind your spiritual teacher.
Three years ago, I was at a spiritual retreat at Blue Cliff Monastery in New York with the Venerable Thich Nhat Hanh, Zen Master, poet, and peace activist. I can’t begin to express what a transformative experience it was: learning to sit peacefully, gently attending to my in breath and out breath; learning to eat mindfully [...]
Be Willing to Let Go: 11 things I don’t need in 2011
The December 11th Reverb 10 prompt is from Sam Davidson, author of 50 Things Your Life Doesn’t Need. He asks: “What are 11 things your life doesn’t need in 2011? How will you go about eliminating them? How will getting rid of these 11 things change your life?” Here are my 11 things that my life [...]
How To Be Wise: Want wisdom? Just breathe.
What’s the wisest decision you can make in the new year? Simple: Breathe. Just breathe. Your wisdom is as close as your next breath.In the moments before harsh words escape your mouth. In the seconds before you lift a fork to partake in the miracle of nourishment. While being put on hold during a customer [...]
How To Be True: Remembering your divine purpose
Imagine the moments just before you were born — milliseconds before you made your grand entrance and drew your first, jagged, shocking breath of air. In those last few moments before you emerged, your soul, held tenderly in the hands of the Divine One, was about to be placed within your tiny body. The Source [...]
How To Be Happy: Forget your troubles? Easier sung than done!
Remember the Judy Garland song that goes, “Forget your troubles! C’mon get happy!”? It’s a great tune if you want to get up and dance. But as advice goes, it’s pretty lousy. First of all, it’s scarce on details. Forget your troubles? How does one even begin to do such a thing? Our troubles [...]
How To Be Patient: Rethinking Red Lights
When I was little, I used to love traffic signals. I loved the way they kept our car rides interesting by punctuating otherwise tedious trips with spontaneous, colorful light shows. I loved how they glowed at night like magical beacons in the darkness. I enjoyed the way they blinked and winked, like friendly robots that [...]
How To Be Grateful: “One of these days” … My philosophy of parenting
One of these days . . . One of these days my house will be clean. I will not find dirty socks stuffed between the couch cushions because it is apparently too far to walk to the hamper. I will not have to muffle a cry of pain in the middle of the night because [...]