You can't stop the waves, but you can learn to surf. Jon Kabat-Zinn More Quotes by Jon Kabat-Zinn More Quotes From Jon Kabat-Zinn Generosity is another quality which, like patience, letting go, non-judging, and trust, provides a solid foundation for mindfulness practice. You might experiment with using the cultivation of generosity as a vehicle for deep self-observation and inquiry as well as an exercise in giving. A good place to start is with yourself. See if you can give yourself gifts that may be true blessings, such as self-acceptance, or some time each day with no purpose. Practice feeling deserving enough to accept these gifts without obligation-to simply receive from yourself, and from the universe. Jon Kabat-Zinn acceptance spiritual letting-go Perhaps we just need little reminders from time to time that we are already dignified, deserving, worthy. Sometimes we don't feel that way because of the wounds and the scars we carry from the past or because of the uncertainty of the future. It is doubtful that we came to feel undeserving on our own. We were helped to feel unworthy. We were taught it in a thousand ways when we were little, and we learned our lessons well. Jon Kabat-Zinn insecurity life past No one can listen to your body for you... To grow and heal, you have to take responsibility for listening to it yourself. Jon Kabat-Zinn body responsibility listening When we let go of wanting something else to happen in this moment, we are taking a profound step toward being able to encounter what is here now. If we hope to go anywhere or develop ourselves in any way, we can only step from where we are standing. If we don't really know where we are standing—a knowing that comes directly from the cultivation of mindfulness—we may only go in circles, for all our efforts and expectations. So, in meditation practice, the best way to get somewhere is to let go of trying to get anywhere at all. Jon Kabat-Zinn circles hope letting-go Maybe the fear is that we are less than we think we are, when the actuality of it is that we are much much more. Jon Kabat-Zinn actuality life thinking Mindfulness is a way to rebalance ourselves. Instead of being lost in thought, or caught up in emotional upheaval, we can tip the scale in the direction of greater equanimity, clarity, wisdom, and self-compassion by actually learning how to inhabit that other dimension of our being. Jon Kabat-Zinn clarity emotional mindfulness Most of the time, if you're not really paying attention, you're someplace else. So your child might say, "Daddy, I want this," and you might say, "Just a minute, I'm busy." Now that's no big deal-we all get busy, and kids frequently ask for attention. But over your child's entire youth, you may have an enormous number of such moments to be really, fully present, but because you thought you were busy, you didn't see the opportunities these moments presented. . . . People carry around an enormous amount of grief because they missed the little things. Jon Kabat-Zinn grief kids children From the point of view of the meditative traditions the entire society is suffering from attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. Jon Kabat-Zinn suffering views attention He who dies before he dies does not die when he dies. Jon Kabat-Zinn dies doe life It is a form of violence, to not see a being for who he or she really is. You think, "Oh, that's my son." But the lens, "my son," completely obliterates the multi- dimensions of that being. Maybe you only see your disappointments in that child, or you aspirations for that child, but that's not the child. Jon Kabat-Zinn disappointment children son When you have children, you realize how easy it is to not see them fully, and perhaps miss all those early years. If you are not careful, you can be too absorbed in work, and they will be only too happy to tell you about it later. Being a parent is one of greatest mindfulness practices of all. Jon Kabat-Zinn practice children years Voluntary simplicity means going fewer places in one day rather than more, seeing less so I can see more, doing less so I can do more, acquiring less so I can have more. Jon Kabat-Zinn simplicity simple mean Perhaps we just need little reminders from time to time that we are already dignified, deserving, worthy. Jon Kabat-Zinn reminders littles needs When you pay attention to boredom it gets unbelievably interesting. Jon Kabat-Zinn boredom attention interesting Buckminster Fuller himself was fond of stating that what seems to be happening at the moment is never the full story of what is really going on. He liked to point out that for the honey bee, it is the honey that is important. But the bee is at the same time nature's vehicle for carrying out cross-pollination of the flowers. Interconnectedness is a fundamental principle of nature. Nothing is isolated. Each event connects with others. Jon Kabat-Zinn important flower fundamentals Once in awhile throughout the day...let go into full acceptance of the present moment, including how you are feeling and what you perceive to be happening... Give yourself permission to allow this moment to be exactly as it is, and allow yourself to be exactly as you are. Then, when you're ready, move in the direction your heart tells you to go, mindfully and with resolution. Jon Kabat-Zinn letting-go heart moving Dying without actually fully living, without waking up to our lives while we have the chance, is an ongoing and significant risk. Jon Kabat-Zinn wake-up risk dying But you cannot have harmony without a commitment to ethical behavior. It's the fence that keeps out the goats that will eat all the young shoots in your garden. Jon Kabat-Zinn goats garden commitment Awareness is not the same as thought. It lies beyond thinking, although it makes no use of thinking, honoring it's value and it's power. Awareness is more like a vessel which can hold and contain our thinking, helping us to see and know our thought as thought rather than getting caught up in them as reality. Jon Kabat-Zinn military wisdom war You are whole and also part of larger and larger circles of wholeness you many not even know about. You are never alone. And you already belong. You belong to humanity. You belong to life. You belong to this moment, this breath. Jon Kabat-Zinn circles mindfulness humanity
