Create a Morning Ritual.

Every morning I open my eyes, and say thank you for another day.

Slowly I drink a cup of tea and feel the warmth spreading through my body.

I read something. Magazines, books… anything to keep my mind sharp and make me strive to be a better person.

A few minutes of yoga helps me focus on my breathing and recharge.

I meditate to calm my mind.

You may not have control over everything that happens in your life, but the tone you set first thing in the morning can influence everything that comes next.

Tips to creating your morning ritual:

1. Give yourself some time every morning just “to be” and relax.
2. There should be no thoughts on what you have to do that day. This time should be purely lived in the moment.
3. Start your day positively by remembering what makes you happy or by being thankful for what you have.
4. Give yourself something to look forward to every morning by doing that one thing you always said you never have time to do.

You define it.

Don’t ask what the meaning of life is, because you define it.

This saying really resonated with me.

You ever feel like you’re in a runt? Stuck? Lost? Blah blah blah the list can go on. I felt like that recently until I realized I let my life go out of balance. It’s so weird because I didn’t even realize it until it hit me hard.  I let the not so fun things in life take over the fun things in my life. I felt non-motivated, and at times negative.

I realized I wasn’t living my every day the way I wanted. I recall making it my mission to do something different every single day bringing excitement and adventure. Even the small things counted. I remember taking the time to do the things that made me happy. Time to re-balance my life again.

I believe the following to be true:

[Our mind is magnetically attracted to the negative. It drags up difficult memories and chews on them, over and over. It keeps trying to change the outcome. “If only I had said that, then he would have... ” The past is gone. We cannot change its outcome, except by changing ourselves, and that can only be done in the present. The mind thinks up dreadful things that might occur in the future. “What if the economy collapses and there isn’t enough food and people come to our door with guns...” The mind thinks that it is doing its job, protecting us from danger, but it is actually making us more fearful and tense.

To transform the unhappy mind, turn it toward finding even one thing it can be grateful for.]

Excerpt from http://www.tricycle.com/blog/deeper-lessons-gratitude-end-day

So that’s my new mission…

Today, I am grateful for my place on this earth.

Sambosa Korean Temple.

One must liberate the “I” from the “accumulated ego” and then one cannot help but to love all beings in the entire universe as one body. Ultimately, one should live a life that is based on a liberated mind (free mind) and actions based on love and compassion.

Ever since I sat in Skycreek Dharm Center for the first time, I felt a sense of fullness. I use to go every Thursday for the “20-something-year-olds meditation group.” This was during my senior year at Chico State. I sensed my mind and body becoming more grounded, calm, happy and less stressed. It was an amazing experience that opened my eyes to the world a little more.

Then I graduated, and moved back home. I missed that feeling of guided meditation and being together. I had searched for a similiar place, a place to retreat and restore my mind. I couldn’t find anything for the longest time. Then one day I came across an ad on craigslist…the last place I’d expect to see anything. It was a meditation center! And not just that, it was a beautiful historic Korean Temple!

During my first visit, I was in awe. I was surrounded by Carmel Valley’s natural landscape…sounds of water flowing, frogs croaking. Inside I found skilled attention to detail in the main meditation hall. It was a sight of pure belief. My friends and I were welcomed with open arms and offered good company and delicious green tea after our meditation.

Now that I am only 10 minutes away from Carmel, I am making a commitment to meditate every week at Sambosa Korean Temple.

In Suwon, South Korea (One Day I will Visit!)

Don’t wake me up.

The nights are getting colder. I’m getting older.

I’m dreaming so much, but I don’t ever want to stop. Don’t wake me up.

inspired by mcfly…

I’m 23 years old. Many say my life is just getting starter- but for right now, this very moment- I feel like I’m not going anywhere. I wonder where I will be in 5 years or even 10 years. I dream and imagine what I could be doing, where I could be…but also knowing ME…I change my mind every other moment. And another thing is I tend to keep my head in the clouds…I’m always dreaming of what could be. That’s when I tell myself “snap out of it- back to the present!” I really don’t know what I want. I guess I just go by a whim and what sounds like a good idea then. I’m sure we all do it. That’s life’s decisions…we list the pros and cons and go for it- and that’s only if we got the guts!

Sometimes I wish I could live in a dreamland.