Life on a daily basis has many frustrations. There is also real suffering that can cause a great deal of anxiety, fear and physical pain. The darker colors get our attention, as they should since they need to b dealt with. Often the many subtle colors of the day, the so called small pleasures are overlooked, or perhaps taken for granted. Many people may laugh at the mindfulness needed to be truly present to these many small centers of peace that are present in our daily lives. However I feel that it is to their loss; for it is pleasure that releases the stress that the daily struggles of life bring us. To enjoy the small things in life are important, for since they do not cause us distress they can be overlooked and the healing benefit that they offer can be diluted are lost. To be mindful of small things is not easy, it takes discipline, a swimming against the habitual reactions to what life seems to throw at us. Perhaps it could also be called developing the seeds of thankfulness. There is a Buddhist saying: “Pain is inevitable, suffering is a choice”.
Br. Mark Dohle, OCSO
