An optimist is a person who sees a green light everywhere, while a pessimist sees only the red stoplight... the truly wise person is colorblind. — Albert Schweitzer

Thank you for moments of clarity.

Thank you for when I focus less on myself and more toward the rest of the world.

Thank you for perspective from statistics:

Over 740 million people worldwide lack access to electricity. (That’s over 9 percent of the global population.)

Approximately 2 billion people around the world do not have access to clean and safe drinking water (around one in four people on the planet), and approximately 3.6 billion people – 46% of the world's population – lack adequate sanitation services.

673 million people have no toilets at all and practice open defecation.

2.3 billion people worldwide - nearly one third of the global population - still cook their meals over open fires or on basic stoves, breathing in harmful smoke released from burning coal, charcoal, firewood, agricultural wastes, and animal dung. A lack of clean cooking contributes to 3.7 million premature deaths annually, with women and children most at risk.

Thank you for big pictures.

Thank you for efforts at taking responsibility for my impact as well as my happiness.

Thank you for ahimsa.

Thank you for NM and MG nesting in their New England haven.

Thank you for reality, even if it hurts. Thank you for efforts to keep shining. 

Thank you for beach days.

Thank you for French rap to help me learn. Thank you for dreams of extended stays abroad after settled into new life and when there’s a cleaner (low-impact) way to travel.

Thank you for l’amour ne se divise pas. Il se multiplie.

Thank you for resting in faith that I’m never alone.

Thank you for spirit guides. They’re reaching out to us now. (Look and listen!)

Thank you for attempts to separate my ego from my suffering.

Thank you for my suffering. None of us is entitled not to experience an abundance of that normal, healthy part of life. To experience suffering is a little like studying a curriculum. When I do, I gain.

Thank you again for the extraordinary inner worlds that don’t always match up with external indicators. The weight that pressures. The inspiration that carries. The currents that drag and pull. Thank you for the hidden power of our deepness to teach and connect.

Thank you for channeling anger into positivity. Thich Nhat Hanh had a lot to say about it. What I gathered from his teaching is that using anger as a motivator may narrow our perspectives. Thus doing so is perhaps less than wise. Peace expands our view.

When I do have fire inside me, will I do well to put it to use just temporarily, or to pause instead? I think, pausing is still better. I’m not sure I stay on a good path when recruiting my anger to prove anything. Optimally, I will live for wellness without worrying about outside opinions.

Thank you for the man on the train to Cali listening to Bill Evans without headphones.

Thank you for S and C’s healthy grandson.

Thank you for the freedom app, even though I keep deleting it.

Thank you for difficult times growing up and for abusive relationships that led me to doubt what I’d assumed as true. Did I deserve to be treated in hurtful ways? Did I cause hurt? I wanted to understand. What’s underneath our pain? How do we become better?

Thank you for questioning with positive intentions, without judgement, as objectively as possible (also playing devil’s advocate). Testing propositions from various angles reveals and congeals understanding. I gain confidence from it.

Thank you for overthinking.

Thank you for distance from DM3 again. (I’ve only broken down and checked it 9 days in the past nine months.) Thank you for the faith that one day its curator will expand into new horizons.

Thank you for the art of suffering. “With the energy of mindfulness you are strong enough to be with your anger, to be with your irritation, to be with your loneliness. And the first function of mindfulness is to recognize things as they are. The second function of mindfulness is to embrace and calm it down, because mindfulness is a kind of energy” —Thich Nhat Hanh.

Thank you for the the sangha body. Thank you for Deer Park.

Thank you for help dealing with strong emotions.

Thank you for the mindfulness trainings offered with love.

Thank you for trying to be more mindful without expecting it to cure me.

Thank you for loved ones who fundamentally value kindness. Their belief in the good of humanity lights the way to my better self when I stray (over and over). They energize my love and hope.

Thank you for Sister love amidst turmoil.

Thank you for compassion for plus ones.

Thank you for BO’s (innocent) comment, “You wanna surround yourself with eagles and not vultures.” Thank you for the eagles circling my new home.

Thank you for abundant supportive, positive energy on delivery day. Thank you for the community making home possible. 

Thank you for DL from the Audubon Society visiting to help plan a native garden.

Thank you for a better quality of life through a WFPB diet that gives my otherwise uneven moods a little bit more balance.

Thank you for determined efforts to be present. Even a tiny amount is progress. Thank you for power to appreciate life in the midst of suffering.

Thank you for nirvana, when the ashes cool.

Wishing you deep, lasting happiness, the kind that flows out from within, tempered by suffering and mingled with equanimity. May your noblest dreams draw you to the peace you deserve. <3