This is one of my favorite little stories: One afternoon, a tired-looking dog wandered into my yard and followed me through the door into the house. He went down the hall, laid down on the couch and slept there for an hour. Since my dogs didn’t seem to mind his presence, and he seemed like [...]
Tag Archives | Gratitude
5 Ways to Find Peace in a Big City Like Los Angeles
By Bivás Biswas The general idea about people living in big cities is that they’re mean, they don’t care, they aren’t as compassionate. They don’t have time for other people. They’re full of themselves and are superficial. Many adjectives! I spent my early childhood in Calcutta, one of the largest cities in India, and I [...]
The “F” Word: 5 Steps to Practice Forgiveness
By Dawn Gluskin No, not that “f” word. The other “f” word: forgiveness! The Buddha compared holding onto anger to grasping hot coals with the intent of throwing them at someone else. You, of course, are the one that gets burnt. So, why is it that we often walk around holding onto resentment, grudges, and [...]
3 Ways to See the Gift In Each Moment
Many people assume ‘gifts’ mean specific things or having certain people in their lives. Though those are definitely good definitions, I think the real gifts are the moments we have because it’s in these moments that we get to experience the events, the people, the things, the thoughts. It’s really the moments that matter. Many [...]
Your Refuge – A Heart That Is Ready for Anything
When the Buddha was dying, he gave a final message to his beloved attendant Ananda, and to generations to come: “Be a lamp unto yourself, be a refuge to yourself. Take yourself to no external refuge.” In his last words, the Buddha was urging us to see this truth: although you may search the world [...]
What We Can Learn From Being Judged
We’ve all experienced the deflating feeling when someone judges us. Whether to our face or through a friend, the words carry the same weight. Someone else is saying we are less than, we aren’t good enough, we have failed, we are on the wrong path, or we are a disappointment. Even the strongest of us [...]
A Blessed Life: Practicing Gratitude in the Face of Robbery
If you have food in the refrigerator, clothes on your back, a roof overhead, and a place to sleep at night, you are richer than 75% of the world. If you woke up this morning with more health than illness, you are more blessed than the one million who will not survive this week due [...]
5 Mother’s Day Life Lessons – Wisdom From A Wise Mom
By Jay Forte As I write this, it is early – just after 6 am. I am in New England, in Putnam CT, at my Mom’s house. Today, she turns 80. And as in all good Italian families, my siblings are all flying in from around the country to celebrate – to celebrate her birthday, [...]
When Your Friends Have Cancer and You’re Healthy
Every day without fail, I find something to be grateful for. Consciously grateful. Some days it is a search. Some days it feels like making something out of nothing as I try to piece together a grateful state of being. Ironically, other days I have so much gratitude I can barely contain myself, bursting with [...]
Changing the World From the Inside Out
Why do people mistreat each other? After the shooting at Sandy Hook, the response of the NRA was that every schoolteacher should be armed. But isn’t this trying to solve the problem from the outside, rather than from the inside? As the new Miss America, Mallory Hagen, said with her winning answer, we can’t fight [...]
