Category Archives: Notes from Ben

From The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People: “Sometimes the most proactive thing we can do is to be happy, just to genuinely smile. Happiness, like unhappiness, is a proactive choice. There are things, like the weather, that our Circle of Influence [what we can change] will never include. But as proactive people, we canContinue reading “Proactive Happiness”

There is only this one lifeThere is only this yearThere is only this monthThere is only this dayThere is only this hourThere is only this minuteThere is only this secondThere is only this momentThere is only this instantThere is only nowThere is onlyThere isThere…– There is only this day – what else exists apart fromContinue reading “There is only…”

Right next to uncertainty, suffering, anxiety, difficulties, there is complete peace, happiness, ease, wellbeing, and joy. There is a minimal step between them, an atom’s width, a neuron. The step between the two – between suffering and peace – is letting go. Releasing. Releasing a desire, releasing an idea about happiness or how things shouldContinue reading “The Atom’s Width of Letting Go”

Most mornings for the past few weeks, I’ve been listening to these lines as part of a guided meditation (“Calm, Ease – short version”) by Thich Nhat Hahn on the Plum Village App. (You can find the audio here on the web too): Breathing in I smile… Nothing is as important as my peace, myContinue reading “Nothing is as important as my peace, my joy…”

I was telling a friend about how I’ve been getting up at 6am for the last couple of months to meditate before the rest of the house wakes up. ‘This morning was a total disaster,’ I said, ‘thoughts going wild the whole time.’ ‘Hmmm,’ she said, ‘it’s interesting, meditation gives us a lot of information.Continue reading “On Disastrous Meditation Sessions”