Sundays With Buddha

Week 34


May all beings be happy at heart.

                                                        --Buddha


Today I messed up, a little. I've been on "vacation" all week, something I do every year to prepare for the holidays. I make a lot of my gifts for family and always have shopping to do with and for family members. It's always so busy, I feel I need a vacation to recover from vacation. Add in some totally unexpected  personal strife that I've been helping my sister through, and before you know it, a week is gone, and Sunday was here before I knew it...AND, I go back to work tomorrow.

This is not, however, an excuse as to why I seemed to have completely 'flaked' on my weekly writing responsibility. But I had a long day ahead of me today and didn't even realize it was Sunday; easy to do with my routine being off all week.

Anyhow, I sit here, now, to do what should have been done earlier this week, but literally could not find the time to get done, and I realize that maybe this is exactly as it should be. I believe we constantly need lessons in our lives to help remind us of what is important and, though it is true that everything I did this week was for my loved ones, I need to be reminded not to spread myself too thin. I love giving and doing for others but I really need to practice better time-management. My writing is important to me, and I hope it is to some of you, too, and I truly appreciate all of you who read and support my blog, so I humbly apologize for being late this week.

All of this brings me to this weeks quote.

May all beings be happy at heart.

Most everyone in this world wants the same thing: to be happy. This weeks quote is the wish from the Buddha for all beings to be blessed with what they long for--a happy heart. We all get there in different ways, as different things make each of us happy in different ways. This is how I need to use this quote as a reminder in my life especially at this very busy time of year.

"All beings" encompasses us all. While you are working hard to do your best to make others happy, be sure to remember yourself, as well. Take a little time for yourself, find a way to relax and regroup, so that you can focus on what's important.  In this way, not only are you making others happy with your actions, but also with your presence of mind, and you are benefiting by gaining a happy heart by sharing your own happy heart, as well. This isn't just for the time surrounding the holidays, but for always. It just comes to our minds easier now because we are more focused on giving this time of year, but if we learn to focus on helping others and ourselves to be happy more throughout the year, we will be better prepared for the bustle of next year when it comes. Happy hearts will be second nature for us, and the focus on what matters will be that much easier. I just need to remember this quote when I am starting to take on too much and ask myself if what I am doing is going to result in my heart being totally and completely happy.

Doing all the things for my family and making all the special gifts, shopping for that special and meaningful gift that I know my father-in-law will love, does make me happy, but all of that also caused me to overlook my Sunday post, and that doesn't make me happy. I know there are some things that I let take my time up that I could have, and should have, avoided so as to not burden myself with trying to get everything done. So my solution is to remember this short quote to keep me focused while I am making these decisions so that I may stay focused and keep my own heart happy and light.

That's a gift I don't feel guilty for giving myself.

Thanks for reading,

Namaste

Nanette