When the heat comes we move like a slug. When the long winter nights come we can’t get out of bed. When there is argument around us we feel uncomfortable. When the lights don’t turn on, we become frightened. When the internet connection cuts, we panic. When someone praises us, we get excited. When someone criticizes us, we feel tiny. When we answer a question in class or among a group smartly, we feel puffed up. We react to our emotions like a dry leaf being blown in the wind. No guts, no vision, no heart. Just blown hither and dither by our emotions. But we don’t have to. We can cultivate an inner place that is warm, safe, and more immune to outside circumstances. Training in returning to the present moment helps a lot. This becomes our bedrock. Thinking about others helps. Taking ourself less seriously helps. Laughter helps. Joy helps.
Related Articles

Message
‘mendokusai’
We can easily lapse into ho-hum doldrums. Time passes but we are not really engaged as we feel tired and lack energy. In Japan they call this ‘mendokusai.’ It is something like apathy. It is […]

Message
Never forget the joy
Never forget the joy, even if you are not feeling it, remember it. This is our true default setting – joy and love. Even remembering it can help lift the cloud, at least a little. […]

uncategorized
Allow all perceptions
If we slow down we can drop into awareness, just observing in the present moment. No need to narrow the focus. Rather, keep the mind wide open and expansive. Allow all perceptions, what we see, […]