Another great Buddha Doodle.
"I let go. Now WHAT?!?" "Keep doing that."
I actually saved this one to use as one of my backgrounds on my work computer. Mindfulness is a practice. Lately, I've been really aware just how much I move through this attach-aware-release cycle. Heck, not five minutes ago I was doing so about things I need to do today. Every single time I let go, it feels just as good.
About three weeks ago, I got an early morning text message from our friend Krissie, saying she and her husband David were okay. I hadn't heard it on the news yet, but there was a huge gas explosion in Greenwood, the Seattle neighborhood where they live. It was close enough to their home that it shook the windows, woke them both up, and scared them very badly.
Sometimes it really takes my breath away, how dramatically life can change at any moment. I don't have any wise, pithy, or funny things to say about this. I'm just glad that people I care deeply about are okay.
I love these Buddha Doodles cartoons.
"Thoughts... are just thoughts. Not who you are."
I frequently get swept up in my own thinking. It takes an act of will to get away from them. Each time I remember this, and do it, I'm grateful for it.
Every so often I stumble across something that really speaks to mindfulness and will go out of my way to share it with others.
Here's just such a thing:
"To start the next chapter of your life... you must quit re-reading the last ones."
I saw it on Facebook, after having a conversation with my sister-in-law about just this very topic. The reason I made sure to grab a copy of it is not just because of the message, but because like all this stuff, it applies just as much to me.
I have my own things I get stuck-in-the-past about. One such thing is my getting back in shape. I had lost a lot of weight previously. Became a really fit runner. Ran races. All great stuff.
Lately, I've been struggling to get back there again, to be in the same place I was.
I can't.
I can be in a new place. It doesn't matter what came before. What matters is what's happening now.
Sometimes I forget that. Then I remember. Grateful for that.
I really, really love the animated series Young Justice. It's about the sidekicks to the major Justice League heroes, who band together to form their own team.
The whole series is available on Netflix. I've watched it countless times.
But never before with my old friend Scott. I've known him for ages. He was one of the first people I met in college. We've been friends since. We don't see much of one another these days, because we have busy lives. But this one particular Sunday we got together, went out for burgers, and came back to my house so I could introduce him to this longtime pleasure of mine.
I got him hooked. He loves it too.
My grandmother used to say that a good thing becomes a great thing, when you share it with someone you love.
