Seven months ago I began a journey of practicing mindfulness every day and we've reached day 222. Yesterday, I talked about having balance in the way we live. Today is a new day.
We all have things we look forward to in life and I sometimes find myself getting caught up in those thoughts. While it's great to dream, it often gets in the way of appreciating what's going on right in front of me. The simple moments like talking to some friends, chatting with coworkers between classes, exchanging small-talk with my students and putting a smile on their faces. Nothing too crazy, just simple. Yet despite how simple these moments are, I find that they provide me with a lot of joy.
Of course, the kind of happiness that comes from achieving something you've poured hours and hours of hard work into is incomparable to the joy that comes from appreciating the moment. They both serve their purpose, but those achievements are often few and far-between. Our daily lives are filled with bite-sized versions of these achievements and if pay attention to our surroundings more we an learn to spot and appreciate them as they come. Practicing mindfulness has helped me gain more awareness over everything and it's become much easier to be more positive and appreciative of everything.
Maybe it's a silly joke, a small exchange of warm smiles between you and someone you've met, or helping someone out, the main thing is to be grateful for everything. Yesterday was my exchange with my student. Today, I'm grateful that I could wake up normally, eat nutritious breakfast, have more than enough resources to live comfortably, am physically and mentally healthy, and I have so much to be thankful for. When I say grateful, I don't mean simply saying "thank you" for everything. Rather, I mean taking moments to genuinely and deeply feel thanks and appreciation for what we have. To remind myself not to take them for granted. When things are not going so well, to remember that I shouldn't take it too personally because I already have an abundance of things that are good in my life. We all do.
Peace
"It is the sweet, simple things of life which are the real ones after all." - Laura Ingalls WilderI had a Kodak moment at work yesterday. For the last month or so one of my students has been showing up early so that she can draw with me before her weekly lessons start. We'd only have 10-20 minutes each time before the lesson and I'd teach/review some English with her while preparing for my lesson. Yesterday, she forgot we didn't have lessons and came to school by accident. After reviewing some English with her we spent almost an hour drawing and talking together and she finally finished her masterpiece. I made an art wall for my students at the beginning of the year and we were both really happy she finished, so we put it up together and then she shared her crackers with me. It was a simple, yet really powerful moment for me that made my day really pleasant.
We all have things we look forward to in life and I sometimes find myself getting caught up in those thoughts. While it's great to dream, it often gets in the way of appreciating what's going on right in front of me. The simple moments like talking to some friends, chatting with coworkers between classes, exchanging small-talk with my students and putting a smile on their faces. Nothing too crazy, just simple. Yet despite how simple these moments are, I find that they provide me with a lot of joy.
Of course, the kind of happiness that comes from achieving something you've poured hours and hours of hard work into is incomparable to the joy that comes from appreciating the moment. They both serve their purpose, but those achievements are often few and far-between. Our daily lives are filled with bite-sized versions of these achievements and if pay attention to our surroundings more we an learn to spot and appreciate them as they come. Practicing mindfulness has helped me gain more awareness over everything and it's become much easier to be more positive and appreciative of everything.
Maybe it's a silly joke, a small exchange of warm smiles between you and someone you've met, or helping someone out, the main thing is to be grateful for everything. Yesterday was my exchange with my student. Today, I'm grateful that I could wake up normally, eat nutritious breakfast, have more than enough resources to live comfortably, am physically and mentally healthy, and I have so much to be thankful for. When I say grateful, I don't mean simply saying "thank you" for everything. Rather, I mean taking moments to genuinely and deeply feel thanks and appreciation for what we have. To remind myself not to take them for granted. When things are not going so well, to remember that I shouldn't take it too personally because I already have an abundance of things that are good in my life. We all do.
Peace
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| The simple things can sometimes be the best and they're going on all around us. |
What are some simple moments you're grateful for?
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