How to Get Shit Done & Enjoy Your Life.

Life is paradoxical, yet simple.Mindfulness isn’t enough; we need compassionate action too. Mindfulness, or daily life practice, or being, must be paired with action, with compassion or doing.Hope and fear are also two sides of the same coin. So are attachment and aversion. Life is a matter of precarious balance. Holding on and letting go.And then there is birth and death. No matter how many times we read or think about the fact that life is impermanent and ends in death and that everything is actually changing all the time, it only really sinks in when we experience drastic change or huge loss.

We want a sense of control.

We want, as Pema Chodron says, “solid ground beneath our feet,” a firm foundation of righteousness and security on which to stand. (But when we think we’ve got it, this is an illusion.)We want to know things. We want to understand.

Wisdom comes through time, reflection on experiences, lessons learned in daily life and relationship.

There are always three things happening in any situation: What’s happening? What are you doing? How are you? They work together and overlap.

We can view reality as it is, pay attention to how we are responding and how we feel.

We can address, “What’s happening?” wisely by looking at the nature of what’s happening in this moment. Checking in. Asking, am I in the present, fully experiencing this?

We can examine, with openness and curiosity, just what is it that we are doing. How are we reacting or responding to this moment, this experience?

We can address the question, “How are you?” by working with emotion in meditation. The inquiry into our emotional state, our energy, our health or lack of health is arguably the most important aspect of human living.

Be mindful. Look at what’s happening, what you’re doing and how you are in the present moment. Then communicate, act, behave and aspire—with compassion, love and kindness.

Let’s go out and find the things we can do to benefit all beings and the planet, our passions and purposes.

Mindfulness is an absolutely essential element of a happy, meaningful life. So is compassionate action. May peace and the force be with you!