Photo of me, taken by Kevin Moul                    Taos, New Mexico

Sitting still this morning, trying to slow down and breathe, after lots of movement and noise and activity.  I sit in quiet now;  burning candle, cup of coffee, and noisy thoughts that try to carry me away from this sweet moment.  I watch my belly rise and fall, noticing the way it feels to breathe fresh beautiful air into my lungs.  I watch my thoughts too, reminding myself that "they" are not me.  I do not need to attach to them and allow them to yank me all over the place.  I can simply sit and watch and breathe, allowing the greater truth of who i am to rise to the surface. 

And even after only a few minutes of this, I feel myself slowing and softening.  I feel the gratitude begin to bubble up.  The shoulds and shouldn'ts my mind has been throwing at me all morning, begin to loosen their grip. 

I'm getting more and more that it is about pausing, slowing down, breathing, becoming present, noticing the busy thoughts without attaching to them, being grateful for the numerous little gifts that surround.  I can use the suffering that is in my body and/or mind, as a signal or alarm, to pause and notice and breathe and step into the present moment.  I can always handle what is here now.   It's my mind that is hard to handle; it's my mind that takes me back to something that has already happened or forward to some stressful thing that might happen. No wonder I feel tension.  There is nothing I can do about what has already passed or what hasn't yet arrived/may never arrive.  And when I'm stuck in my mind, listening to the same fearful stories it's been telling me for years, I completely miss the beauty that is right before me.

Here's to seeing the beauty that is here now, right in this very moment.

P.S:  If you have not yet discovered Byron Katie/The Work, and you're interested in unraveling all that no longer serves you, I highly recommend you check her out.