Zen teachings: "Spring Comes And The Grass Grows All by Itself." ; what a powerful reminder that sometimes, it's best to allow things to unfold in their own way, without too much effort on our part. In Zen philosophy we learn that when you let go of things rather than struggle against them, your life will flow, and when it does, you'll be on your way to a great life.
By allowing relationships to unfold, In their own time and in their own way, a extraordinary connection has a chance to develop. So often , Instead of being open and accepting of whatever we are experiencing, we resist it, push it away, and demand that it be different. But like fighting the weather, It's a losing battle. I like to think There really isn’t any kind of "bad" weather, only different kinds of good weather.
To be too serious, too often, is to miss out on a great deal of the joys of life.
Life appears to be more orderly when you have a quiet mind. The chaos doesn’t get to you as much. You're able to see higher levels, the bigger picture, and you're able to prioritize much more effectively. When your mind is quiet, it's as though everything settles down, life appears to come at you much more slowly, when in reality, of course, it doesn’t, the only thing that changed was your thinking. Any task, when attempted with a quiet mind, is substantially easier. Without the distraction of busyness, chatter, and confusion, you're usually able to accomplish a lot. You become able to see what needs to be done much more clearly.
Patience is a quality of heart that can be greatly enhanced with deliberate practice. Your intention to be patient, especially if you know it's only for a short while, immediately strengthens your capacity for patience. Becoming more patient involves opening your heart to the present moment, even if you don’t like it. Its entirely possible to train your mind to be less reactive to ordinarily difficult events. Once I adopted a sense of humor about my own serious attitude, it became easier to differentiate between small concerns and that which was more significant.
One of the mistakes many of us make is that we feel sorry for ourselves, or for others, thinking that life should be "fair", or that someday it will be. If you can be okay with changing moods (including your own), you'll live with more peace of mind. Your openness to change will enable you to go with the flow of life. When we get bent out of shape by little things, when we are irritated at ourselves and others, our overreactions not only make us stressed out and miserable, but they actually get in the way of our getting what we want.
Reflecting on the necessity of change helps us see the perfection of life as it is instead of as it was or as it should be. Without change, we could not exist. If your kids didn’t grow up, they couldn’t have kids of their own. If we didn’t get both rain and sunshine, the plants wouldn’t grow, and so forth. When we hang on to things beyond a certain
In the absence of being in the present moment, you live in a world of fear, anticipation, regret, anxiety, and stress. Your mind takes you back into the past, reminding you of painful times and your world of troubles, as well as off into the future, encouraging you to worry and fret. The fact that life isn’t always what we might call "fair" doesn’t mean that we shouldn’t do everything in our power to improve our own lives or the world as a whole.
Much of our anxiety and inner struggle stems from our busy, overactive minds always needing something to entertain them, something to focus on, and always wondering,"what's next?" By reminding yourself of the power of prevention and implementing its wisdom into your life, you can save yourself a great deal of grief, and, in the process, reduce some of the stress you experience. When we compound our multitude of tasks and responsibilities with an equally frantic and busy mind, the result is confusion, chaos, and stress. If you can see the value of becoming a little less serious- for yourself and those around you- then you have it in you to do so. Instead of waiting until the end of your life to have a change of heart, Make that effort Now. If you do you'll be glad you did.
Quieting down is a mind set, not a set of circumstances. There are plenty of people with relatively few actual emergencies to deal with, who are freaked out and stressed almost all of the time. There are others who deal with extraordinarily stressful things, but who are able to take most of it and stride. Being present is one of the most talked about mental dynamics in spiritual life, and, I believe, may be the single most important concept of living if your goal is to be happy in life and effective in the things you do. When your mind wanders, contemplating problems, becoming absorbed and caught up in various dramas, you experience the feelings associated with those thoughts- confusion, fear, anger, worry, anxiety, and so on. Many of us tend to think of things as emergencies, or at least treat them as such, when its probably not necessary to do so.
We have the power to recognize our own thinking when its taking us places we don’t want or need to go. When we do, we're able to bring our attention back to the moment to whatever we are doing whomever we are with. By practicing being more present moment oriented, you'll create a peace of mind that you'll carry with you throughout your life. As events unfold, you'll deal with them effectively and wisely, while at the same time keeping your stress levels under control. Choosing not to take action or not to make a decision can make you feel powerless over your own life, and, ultimately, can create a great deal of anxiety. Keep in mind that if you don’t make a decision or procrastinate in making a decision. Its a choice that you are making to not taking any action- which usually means that you lose some control over what happens.
When it comes to "change" we are always faced with the same choice- Embrace or suffer. Remember , Change is going to be there whether you like it or not. What we're left with is the degree to which we embrace or push it away. One of the most important question you can ask yourself is, "Am I making the absolute best of this moment?" If you were to make the most of this particular moment, and then do the same in all future moments, Life would have a natural way of working itself out.
We say we want our children to be calm, yet we ourselves are hyper, sometimes even frantic. Ask Yourself , "What messages am I really sending to my children? Every time you make an ethical decision, offer your support, choose honesty, or lend a helping hand, you make a difference. Every time you are polite, pick up litter, or send someone a thank you note, you make a difference. The more time you spent with kids, the less seriously you'll take even the serious adults you spend time with. It seems that you become, to a certain degree, almost immune to any negative effect that might otherwise come your way. At times we as grown ups are far too serious! We get so caught up in the minutiae of life and focus on all the wrong things. We get so busy planning for life that sometimes we forget to live.
~Richard Carlson
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