http://zenhabits.net/zen-attachment/
i just read this article, "from A to Zen" and i think it offers some wonderful wisdom and great reminders. it is so easy for life to overwhelm us with activities, emotions, work and relationships that it can be difficult to center yourself, to refocus your energy, to build inner strength and peace. we all seek a life of fulfillment, but many times we compensate for a lack of personal fulfillment with physical possessions instead of focusing on healing our emotional well-being. these "zen habits" can help remind us what's important, and just might help improve our quality of life in the process.
"in trying to hold on to what’s familiar, we limit our ability to experience joy in the present. a moment can’t possibly radiate fully when you’re suffocating it in fear. when you stop trying to grasp, own, and control the world around you, you give it the freedom to fulfill you without the power to destroy you. that’s why letting go is so important: letting go is letting happiness in."
a few of my favorite takeaways:
Love instead of fearing. When you hold onto the past, it often has to do with fear: fear you messed up your chance at happiness, or fear you’ll never know such happiness again. Focus on what you love and you’ll create happiness instead of worrying about it.
Practice letting things be. That doesn’t mean you can’t actively work to create a different tomorrow. It just means you make peace with the moment as it is, without worrying that something’s wrong with you or your life, and then operate from a place of acceptance.
Release the need to know. Life entails uncertainty, no matter how strong your intention. Obsessing about tomorrow wastes your life because there will always be a tomorrow on the horizon. There are no guarantees about how it will play out. Just know it hinges on how well you live today.
Understand that pain is unavoidable. No matter how well you do everything on this list, you will lose things that matter and feel some level of pain. But it doesn’t have to be as bad as you think. As the saying goes, pain is inevitable, suffering is optional.
Xie Xie. It means thank you in Chinese. Fully embrace your happy moments—love with abandon; be so passionate it’s contagious. If a darker moment follows, remember: it will teach you something, and soon enough you’ll be in another happy moment to appreciate. Everything is cyclical.
just a few simple ways to try and live better :)
