Ritual

I know how to live. Eat well, exercise, practice acts of kindness, be grateful, appreciate, turn the other cheek, set boundaries, let go, hang with healthy people or those trying to get healthy. None of this is rocket science. Why then, don't I do it more? I forget. Or maybe more precisely, other stuff gets in the way of my awareness. What helps are small reminders, rituals if you will, to remind me of the importance of living well and what my purpose and meaning are.

Here's a ritual I've learned and like a lot. At night just before I go to bed, I turn my coffee cup over and place it upside down on my kitchen counter. I use that small gesture to remind me that life is impermanent and I take a moment to relish in gratitude of the day I have just lived. I try to recall three things that were special, pleasant, rewarding, or made me smile.

Before I became a 'C' student, I would have listed 10 or 20, categorized them, written them down, or put them in an excel spreadsheet. Now, I just think momentarily of three. That's enough.

In the morning, when I turn the cup over and before I pour coffee into it, I again stop and think of the fleeting time we have here and I anticipate three things I have to look forward to during the day. It might be time at the gym, a surf, a visit, or time alone with my most recent book. I take a moment to be thankful of the abundance in my life.

I read that Tibetan monks do this (they use tea cups, of course) to remind themselves of the impermanence of life in Susan Jeffries book, Embracing Uncertainty.

Namaste

Mike