Is it just me, or does it feel kind of apocalyptic around here?
What feels to you like a harbinger of the end? Politics? Virus? Environment? Buffoons? Markets?
What are you doing about this crazy world? What are you doing about it?
Here’s a suggestion.
Make a cup of tea.
While drinking your tea, consider the present moment.
In the present, you have your breath. In the present, we are blissful.
I read this idea in Michael A. Singer’s The Untethered Soul: The Journey Beyond Yourself. He describes how the ego feeds on past regrets and future apprehensions. He writes that the ego is starved in the present. While experiencing moments of presence in the present, letting go of past regrets and future apprehensions, we are blissful.
Consider this present moment. When you — just for a moment, just for a breath — release the grip of the past and future, setting down your regrets and apprehensions, are you not at peace? Do you experience bliss?
Sip your tea, friend. You have this cup of tea. You have this breath. You have this moment of bliss.
Consider this, too.
When I was in my 20’s I clipped a quotation from a magazine and hung it on the back of my office door. It was a business magazine, and I think the person quoted was some British Lord of Banking. I have never been able to find his name to attribute this wisdom:
We must not let the fear of losing
rob us of the joy of having.
Soon enough you will have another chance to wash your hands. Now, it is time for tea and breath.