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Today's
Meditation:
We're
all surrounded by things that are supposed to improve our
quality of life. And in many ways, these things do
so. We have refrigerators that keep our food cold so
that we don't get sick, water heaters that provide us with
hot water when we need it, furnaces that keep us warm in the
winter. But these are all outside things, and Jane is
talking about what comes from inside that improves the
quality of the lives we live. What
she's saying is that we determine the quality of our own
lives. We determine how we look at a day, how we look
at a situation, how we will act and what we will say.
We determine how we will respond to other people's actions
or words, and we determine whether or not we're going to
hold a grudge or practice forgiveness. For
Jane, it sounds like the "daily virtues" are much
more important than those things that make up "the
grand scheme of life." If I'm able to discipline
myself and share my kindness and my laughter, then the
quality of my life for this day shall be very high.
And isn't this day all that truly matters? Right now
is the only moment over which I have control over what I do
and how I do it, and if I were to know that I was going to
die tonight, how would I live my right now? If
I were to know that, I think that I'd be spending my time
telling the people who have done so much for me just how
much they mean to me, and I'd be trying to leave those last
words of encouragement with the people who most could use
them. I don't know if I could accomplish that in one
day, but who knows? And if I had any time left over,
then I would go for a long walk in the woods. For only
then would I know that I had left something of lasting value
for people who could use it. |
