What if life is meant to be fun and the one thing stopping our joy is our own thinking?  What if the ‘story’ we have about life has been the true robber of our inner peace?

A fire is beautiful.  It radiates the most magnificent heat.   Its flames dance outward in a soft caress as the wind gently blows.  It’s colors flicker across the spectrum, in an amazing light show, as the crackle and pop and life fill the night air.  These moments of raptured heat lull us into a dreamy state as we gaze at their mesmerizing glory.

Then all of a sudden the wind changes direction, black smoke billows in our eyes and lungs, the heat is unbearable and we step away.

Life is much the same way.  It brings change on the winds.  What if our discomfort is simply our unwillingness to step away.  When the conversation becomes too charged…. Step Away!  When the work load is too high …. Step Away.  When the body is simply run down…. Step Away!

Step away with mindful intent.  The intent to consciously guard our mental health and well being.  To recognize the only important business at hand is our own joyful state.  Without that it’s like trying to start a fire in a tsunami. Don’t try to start a fire in a tsunami – RUN!  Run for cover.  Take shelter.

How simple if we could do the same mentally.  To be nimble and fluid and adjust our view of the fire when the winds blow.

Perhaps it is just this simple….  If we decide it is.  Of course one can sit in the smoke as sometimes we do.  We cough.  We bitch.  We are too lazy to pick up our chair and move.  We suffer.  And that of course is also our choice.  Where we often fall short is owning that choice.  Recognizing that our own internal state is exactly what we choose it to be.

“The happiness of your life depends on the quality of your thoughts”.