The second of the three Taoist Treasures is Patience. (I have just three things to teach: simplicity, patience and compassion. – verse 67). Patience is the first step toward living in the moment. It’s the hand brake that slows down our focus on the future. It’s the dipped toe in the cold waters of detachment. It’s the training wheels on our Zen bike. As American humorist Arnold H. Glasgow puts it, “The key to everything is patience. You get the chicken … Continue reading
That’s the famous quote from Henry David Thoreau’s Walden. The full quote is: Our life is frittered away by detail. Simplify, simplify, simplify! I say, let your affairs be as two or three, and not a hundred or a thousand; instead of a million count half a dozen, and keep your accounts on your thumb-nail. It’s a theme as relevant today as it was 250 years ago. It was even relevant over 2,000 years ago, when Lao Tzu listed it … Continue reading
Ever notice how everything profound comes in 3’s? The Holy Trinity. Three Blind Mice. Three Wise Men. Three Musketeers. Three Stooges. Three Dog Night. Three Amigos. Three-Act Play. There’s the comedy rule of three (the comic triple). There’s a latin phrase omne trium perfectum, which means everything that comes in threes is perfect (ironically, the phrase consists of three words). The philosopher/mathematician Pythagoras referred to 3 as the noblest of all digits, as “it is the only number to … Continue reading
It’s been awhile since I’ve posted. The flow of life has had me riding some white rapids lately and, if I’ve learned anything, it’s that when you’re holding on with both hands to stay in the boat, it doesn’t make sense to start flying a kite. Scroll wayyyyy down to see the clip. There’s a glitch in the programming so there’s a large empty space before the video. But it’s there. I promise. Keep scrolling. Anyway, I wanted to share … Continue reading
They say the key to a peaceful mind is mindfulness. And the key to mindfulness is attention. And, while it isn’t necessary, one could argue that the easiest way to maintain attention is, whenever possible, focus on one thing at a time. In our age of multi-tasking… talking while texting while walking while shopping while watching kids while working out… focusing on one thing at a time seems like… well, wasting time. Kind of ironic, isn’t it? We’ve got all … Continue reading
