I WILL focus on learning to:

i)   Be mindful.

“Walk as if you are kissing the Earth with your feet.” ― Thích Nhất Hạnh, Peace Is Every Step: The Path of Mindfulness in Everyday Life

“If someone comes along and shoots an arrow into your heart, it’s fruitless to stand there and yell at the person.  It would be much better to turn your attention to the fact that there’s an arrow in your heart…” ― Pema Chödrön, Start Where You Are: A Guide to Compassionate Living

“If you want to conquer the anxiety of life, live in the moment, live in the breath.” ― Amit Ray, Om Chanting and Meditation

“Do every act of your life as though it were the very last act of your life.” ― Marcus Aurelius, Meditations

“Few of us ever live in the present. We are forever anticipating what is to come or remembering what has gone.” ― Louis L’Amour

ii)  Meditate.

“Soon silence will have passed into legend. Man has turned his back on silence.  Day after day he invents machines and devices that increase noise and distract humanity from the essence of life, contemplation, meditation.”  –  Jean Arp

“Keep your heart clear and transparent, and you will never be bound.  A single disturbed thought creates ten thousand distractions.” ― Ryokan

“Feelings come and go like clouds in a windy sky.  Conscious breathing is my anchor.” ― Thích Nhất Hạnh, Stepping into Freedom: Rules of Monastic Practice for Novices

iii)  Simplify.

“The greatest step towards a life of simplicity is to learn to let go.”  – Steve Maraboli

“The ability to simplify means to eliminate the unnecessary so that the necessary may speak.”   - Hans Hofmann, Introduction to the Bootstrap, 1993

“Simplicity, simplicity, simplicity!  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.”  – Henry David Thoreau

iv)  Love thyself.

“We cultivate love when we allow our most vulnerable and powerful selves to be deeply seen and known, and when we honor the spiritual connection that grows from that offering with trust, respect, kindness and affection. Love is not something we give or get; it is something that we nurture and grow, a connection that can only be cultivated between two people when it exists within each one of them – we can only love others as much as we love ourselves. Shame, blame, disrespect, betrayal, and the withholding of affection damage the roots from which love grows. Love can only survive these injuries if they are acknowledged, healed and rare.”   – Brené Brown

“Love yourself first and everything else falls into line. You really have to love yourself to get anything done in this world.” – Lucille Ball

v)  Live authentically.

“We have to dare to be ourselves, however frightening or strange that self may prove to be.” ― May Sarton

“A lot of the conflict you have in your life exists simply because you’re not living in alignment; you’re not being true to yourself.” ― Steve Maraboli, Unapologetically You: Reflections on Life and the Human Experience

“Following all the rules leaves a completed checklist. Following your heart achieves a completed you.” ― Ray Davis

vi)  Be vulnerable.

“Vulnerability is the only authentic state. Being vulnerable means being open, for wounding, but also for pleasure. Being open to the wounds of life means also being open to the bounty and beauty. Don’t mask or deny your vulnerability: it is your greatest asset. Be vulnerable: quake and shake in your boots with it. the new goodness that is coming to you, in the form of people, situations, and things can only come to you when you are vulnerable, i.e. open.” ― Stephen Russell, Barefoot Doctor’s Guide to the Tao: A Spiritual Handbook for the Urban Warrior

“Owning our story can be hard but not nearly as difficult as spending our lives running from it.  Embracing our vulnerabilities is risky but not nearly as dangerous as giving up on love and belonging and joy—the experiences that make us the most vulnerable.  Only when we are brave enough to explore the darkness will we discover the infinite power of our light.”  - Brené Brown

vii)  Receive.

“And there’s also ‘To him that hath shall be given.’ After all, you must have a capacity to receive, or even omnipotence can’t give.”   – C.S. Lewis

“Give and receive with gratitude. Do the former, without expectation of, the latter.”  ― Jaeda DeWalt

“Pure love is a willingness to give without a thought of receiving anything in return.” – Peace Pilgrim