“Have the courage to let yourself get bored. Cross that point where usually you would seek out meaningless stimulation. And then watch in real time new potentials for your life open up.” - Abdullah Zeinab

Maybe taking steps and eating breakfast are some of the potentially boring things, and what opens from the experience of them is healing.

Thank you for us being different or weird (if it’s genuine) and for loving weirdly.

Thank you for gains in strength.

Thank you for progress building on progress.

Thank you for setbacks learned from, so they’re part of the progress, too.

Thank you for this article from a few years back on living a healthy and happy life.

Thank you for porch swings that can’t buy happiness but may be a perch for it to rest on.

Thank you for a Sis inspiring me with an introduction to Tonglen and the ways she’s practiced.

Thank you for, “You are a flower in the garden of humanity.” - Thich Nhat Hanh

Thank you for the shirt that said, “We rise by lifting each other up.” Thank you for the smile on the woman who wore it. (Maybe our smiles lifted each other up!)

Thank you for blinders horses wear. Although it seems less than ideal for them, it’s a lesson. Distractions out of sight help us focus on the path to a healthier future.

Thank you for letting go of regrets to free head space for envisioning wellness and connecting with the present.

Thank you for guessing the time before checking it. Do you do that? It might hone intuition. Dad would play those sorts of games. He’d have us guess the temperature of the room before seeing the thermostat or the bill amount before the server brought it.

Thank you for monsoon season here in NM. Thank you for cracks of thunder. Thank you for stormy walks.

Thank you for lists when there’s more to do than my brain can keep track of. 

Thank you for the last move to LA. Thank you for neighbors who strengthened me. Even small kindnesses matter. Warm greetings, asking how someone is, offering little tips and advice can change a life.

Thank you for recovering from hurts as a way to show forgiveness. 

Thank you for trail runs supercharging smiles. What gives your smiles a charge? Is it running? Biking? Painting? Gardening? Camping? Playdates? Surfing? Baking? Hugs? Dance? Yoga? Hikes?… 

Thank you for a white winged dove near miss outside the house while chatting with the bird rescue lady.

Thank you for the staying power of kindness. (Mine stumbles and gets back up.)

Thank you for greyhounds on the Tramway walking path.

Thank you for the booty bounce of the mini Australian shepherd mix trotting off leash between two ladies, also trotting, on the sidewalk near the high desert open space.

Thank you for meditating in bed. Thank you for patterns of light and dark that spring to life behind closed eyelids. 

Thank you for screen time traded in for analog entertainment.

Thank you for efforts at assuming responsibility for my emotions and life. Good will come to others if I’m at my best.

Thank you for genuine apologies spoken and unspoken (lived). 

Thank you for greasy French fry cravings.

Thank you for dreams that foreshadow little events in the day ahead because they give a feeling that life is more than what shows on the outside.

Thank you for what another angry slip up has to teach me. Do you ever feel that you’ve tried so hard for so long and still are miles away from getting things right? I guess if you can relate, then our humanity connects us.

Thank you (again) for this clip on forgiveness and the power of aspiration. Thank you for beacons who shine light. Thank you for Thich Nhat Hanh.

Thank you for awareness that we’re surrounded with a love we may not always see. It is there! May we open to the wonders of love around us.

Thank you for when I am able to remain calm and reflect even a speck of the love the universe gives. I hope you feel calm and reflect love, too.

Thank you for all of us learning.

Thank you for your wellness.

Thank you for the joyful moments that brighten your days.