It’s been too long since I wrote to update you all, but sometimes it happens. You get busy and communicating with those closest to you somehow becomes a lower priority. Sometimes, you need to look after yourself.
Quality time is crucial for maintaining good health. For example, it was important for me to go on my “second honeymoon” with my wife to celebrate our 20th wedding anniversary in late May, 2012. This quality time was precious and reminded us of the special relationship we share: best friends, lovers, parents…
Since then, I have had a crisis in my health that impacted how I manage my time and my work. I won’t go into detail, but after getting back from our trip to Alaska, taking a few weeks off work helped me to stay focused on what really matters in life. Some might be expecting me to say family and friends, and they are important of course. But really, what matters most to me is to pay attention and value where I am right now…consciously, intentionally promoting the thought that “I am here and that is enough.”
This is mindfulness and I’m speaking more and more to my clients, family, and friends about this. Mindfulness is about being present:
“The most precious gift we can offer others is our presence. When mindfulness embraces those we love, they will bloom like flowers.” ~ Thich Nhat Hanh ~
Mindfulness is about paying attention:
“To pay attention, this is our endless and proper work.” ~ Mary Oliver ~
Mindfulness is about observing one’s mind:
“The greater part of human pain is unnecessary. It is self-created as long as the unobserved mind runs your life.” ~ Eckhart Tolle ~
Mindfulness is about letting go:
“Once you stop clinging and let things be, you’ll be free, even of birth and death. You’ll transform everything… And you’ll be at peace wherever you are.” ~ Bodhidharma ~
Mindfulness is about accepting your partner as he or she is:
“In a true you-and-I relationship, we are present mindfully, nonintrusively, the way we are present with things in nature.We do not tell a birch tree it should be more like an elm. We face it with no agenda, only an appreciation that becomes participation: ‘I love looking at this birch’ becomes ‘I am this birch’ and then ‘I and this birch are opening to a mystery that transcends and holds us both.” ~ David Richo ~
Mindfulness is about giving to one’s self so we may give to others:
“Generosity is another quality which, like patience, letting go, non-judging, and trust, provides a solid foundation for mindfulness practice. You might experiment with using the cultivation of generosity as a vehicle for deep self-observation and inquiry as well as an exercise in giving. A good place to start is with yourself. See if you can give yourself gifts that may be true blessings, such as self-acceptance, or some time each day with no purpose. Practice feeling deserving enough to accept these gifts without obligation-to simply receive from yourself, and from the universe.” ~ Jon Kabat-Zinn ~
I sometimes recommend Jon Kabat-Zinn’s websitehttp://www.mindfulnesscds.com/author.html for people who are stuck and have tried everything to get unstuck. There are many treasures there.
There are a few aspects to quality time and probably the most important is mindfulness in the present moment, simply accepting what is as the best possible that life has to give, and waiting, without grasping, simply allowing it to be.
Quotes were taken from: http://www.diy-stress-relief.com/mindfulness-quotes.html