Time is Life

Time is Life

We should use our time with a great deal of intelligence, because time is not only money; it is much more precious than that. It is life. 

                                                 Thich Nhat Hanh: You Are Here

Each day has 24 hours, each month around 30 days, and each year 12 months. We only have a limited number of days, months and years at our disposal to live our lives, and the thing is, we don’t know when our share is over.  For as much as I know, a rock might fall on my head tomorrow or I might get hit by a car. I might fall seriously ill and be gone in over a week, next month or in a year. 

Often, we spend our time carelessly. We get lost in the Internet, before the television or on our cellphone. We loose it brooding over long gone events or worrying about upcoming issues. 

Do we use our time the way we  want to, deep inside? Obviously we have obligations, but apart from them.  Do I want to spend 14 non-work hours per week in front of the computer (luckily I don’t! ;-)? Wouldn’t I prefer to use at least half of that time to take walks outside? And do I have to hang around the pub for 5 hours each week end, instead of calling my mother, playing with my child or cooking a nice meal with my partner…?

It’s very helpful every now and then to sit down and look at how you spend your time. Look at the list and ask yourself: is this how I want to use my precious, limited hours? Is this how I want to live my life? 

What Is Mindfulness

What Is Mindfulness?

Keep your attention focused on the work, be alert and ready to handle ably and intelligently any situation that may arise - this is mindfulness.

                                                                 Thich Nhat Hanh

Mindfulness is really en vogue right now. People buy books about it, go to mindfulness courses and retreats, and there’s almost no issue of any lifestyle magazine that doesn’t include an article about it. 

Almost everybody agrees that it’s worthwhile to concentrate on the here and now to live in a  less shattered way and be more focused. Perhaps we succeed being fully present during a course or while reading about it, but then… Then our everyday lives with all their routines take over again. It takes a real effort 

 to bring mindfulness into our everyday lives, and what I find works best is to stop and make a pause before any new action. 

Let’s say you are writing an email and then you need to make phone call. When you’ve finished the first task you close your eyes for a second, take a deep breath, relax your whole body and smile. Then you dial the number, fully aware of whom you will talk to and what you need to discuss.

I find Thich Nhat Hanh’s definition very good, but what it doesn’t include is “without being elsewhere in your thoughts”. It’s probably obvious to a Buddhist monk, but not to us ;-) 

We Need Beauty

AA wrote: Gillar dina texter, du skriver mycket bra. Det finns en väl avvägd balans mellan orden och att meningarna hänger ihop likt syskon, det går inte att ta bort något för då uppstår ett tomrum. Du skapar en förväntning hos läsaren att du skall ge svaret  på något mycket viktigt, och du lyckas!
BB wrote: Or read something beautiful! Like this letter 💚

CC wrote:Vielen Dank für deine Mail :)  du sprichst mir mit diesen Sätzen direkt aus meinem Herzen! Ich kann mit Freude behaupten, dass ich doch tatsächlich diese Gabe habe! Ich sehe Schönheit überall. Du hast es so schön und passend ausgedrückt!

DD wrote: Thank you, I was creating beauty in my place organizing and getting rid of stuff, it is more beautiful now 😘😘😘

We Need Beauty

Everybody needs beauty as well as bread, places to play and pray in, where nature may heal and give strength to body and soul.

John Muir

We need beauty to reconcile us with the difficulties of life. It does us immensely good to pose our eyes on something that lightens us up from inside, and that caresses our souls.

Living in a big city, that’s not always easy. There’s so much rubbish around, so many hard edges, concrete, neglected places and filthy streets. 

However, even around the city dump you can spot a flower or a tree, in a crammed supermarket you can see a smiling face, and in the midst of chaotic traffic you can look up in the sky. 

Sometimes we have, indeed, to search for beauty. Try to find it in places where there does not seem to be any. Look actively for beauty, and take it in with all your senses. It nourishes your innermost essence.

Be the Change

AA wrote: I always loved this quote! Regarding this one though "by not thinking or talking negatively about anybody, about being kind and helpful even towards those who are not so kind and helpful?"  sometimes people take benefit i experienced.. Then it is tricky and there needs to be a good balance to be fair to our ownselves ... 😌

Be the Change

Be the change you wish to see in the world

  Mahatma Gandhi 

A wonderful quote, and so true. We're so often complaining about different issues, be it pollution and over-exploitation of natural resources, be it the lack of peace in our world. The question is: are we ourselves LIVING the changes we'd like to see? 

Are we willing to seriously change our lifestyle - to consume less, take better care of what we've got...? Are we willing to bring about peace in our own circle, by not thinking or talking negatively about anybody, about being kind and helpful even towards those who are not so kind and helpful?

That's the question. No real change can come about if not from within ourselves. No real change in the world can come about until the tipping point has been reached - that is when enough single people are willing to BE the change.

Bite Your Tongue

AA said: Dein heutiger Newsletter hat mir mal wieder sehr aus dem Herzen gesprochen. Vielen Dank dafür. Es tut so gut, die Woche damit zu beginnen.

Bite Your Tongue

 If a word burns on your tongue, let it burn!

                                                 Persian wisdom

All too often we make silly remarks on what others say or do; remarks that we regret afterwards. Remarks can make somebody sad or angry, whilst often being unnecessary or even stupid. 

Perhaps we make our remarks out of an old habit of always wanting to have the last word, or because we absolutely want to prove we’re right in something. Often we just want to serve the other person our solution to any issue he/she might have. 

It’s a good rule to hold your words, especially if you really feel a real urge to utter them. That is often a sign that you want to impose yourself instead of really listening to and being there for the other person. If they want your advice, they will ask for it.

More often than not, it’s a good idea to let the words that burn your tongue - just burn. ;-)