The Time Of Your LIfe

The Buddha tells us, “Do not dwell in the past, do not dream of the future, concentrate the mind on the present moment.” At times, we can find ourselves in one place our minds are occupied elsewhere. This split deprives us of the joy of experiencing the here and the now. In this lesson, we consider how we might establish some routine way of bringing ourselves back into the present moment at different times during the day.

We hear reports of an epidemic of loneliness afflicting our world. How can this be when we have never had so many means of communication? In the journey of life, it is ever more important that we make time for family and friends and that we work to develop meaningful relationships with the people accompanying us on the way.

You might be among the fortunate people who earn your living by doing work you really enjoy. Mark Twain tells us, "Find a job you enjoy doing, and you’ll never have to work a day in your life" Work is an important part of our lives, so we have to find purpose in the work we do and meaning in the care and attention we give to our job.

How can we manage to find contentment and happiness in a world of constant change? Most of us are inclined to feel more comfortable with the old familiar. But when we look around, we notice that everything changes. Is there some way we can learn to accept and even love impermanence since we are going to have to live with it anyway?

The pace of life seems to be quickening all the time. In our always-connected world, can we find time to pause and stop? Notice how we are inclined to fill any free moments with some activity. Is it really possible to just relax and enjoy watching the clouds pass by day or to simply sit down at night and watch the moon and stars in the sky?

There are so many reasons for thankfulness, and we are told that an attitude of gratitude is life-changing. We can find reasons for gratitude all around us from the first light of day until we drift to sleep at night. How could we possibly go through life without expressing gratitude for all the gifts of our existence?

Our undisciplined minds often jump from thought to thought, We can be restless and reactive. We can be knocked off course by distractions, which add to our anxiety and leave us feeling of lack of direction. In this distracted state we can operate on auto-pilot and we see the unhappy consequences that can follow from that.