How Gratitude Relates to Mindfulness Practice

This is an edited version of the talk by Ven. Homagama Dhamma Kusala Thero in the Mindfulness for Beginners programme on 24 June 2023. 

Let us talk about gratitude and how we can relate gratitude to our practice of mindfulness. 

Gratitude isn’t just for when we receive things

Most of you would say that when you receive a gift or some help from somebody, that is an opportunity to practise gratitude. Most people have the idea that in order to practise gratitude, you need to get something, some support or help. When you receive something then you feel grateful for them. 

But such occasions are not frequent. So if you believe you can practise gratitude only on such occasions you get to practise gratitude only every now and then.

We already have a lot to be grateful for 

When we think about our lives, the way we are living, how we are functioning, we already have so many things to be grateful for. You don’t have to get anything new or receive some service in order to practise gratitude. We already have so many things to be grateful for. 

And we don’t even pay attention to them. We are not even noticing them. Instead we think that we need to get something. We are in search of something, or we are in search of somebody to come and help us.

If you think that you can practise gratitude only during such occasions, you are in this never-ending search. You are looking for things, searching for things. You are expecting to receive more and more things.

Or you are looking for people. You are expecting to receive their company. And when you meet them you will be happy. You will be grateful. 

We are always in a search (mode) 

We think that on a future day, when we get these things we will be happy. We are always in search of something. On an unknown day when we achieve these goals we will be happy. We work towards that goal. We plan. We spend so much time trying to reach that destination. 

We think that when we reach that destination, when we get all these things, then we will be happy.we can be grateful. That’s how our mind works. 

The person looking for shoes…

This person is searching for the exact brand of shoes in that exact colour he wants. After searching so much he found the exact brand and the exact colour he was looking for. They were in a shop where the salesman doesn’t have any feet. He doesn’t have any feet to wear the shoes. 

The right colour of eyelashes…

Or perhaps you are looking for an eyelash colour. Searching and searching for the exact version and exact colour you want. You look through so many shops to find the eyelash colour. In  the end it is in a  shop where the salesgirl is blind.

So this is how we are. Always we look for something, in search of something. We fail to appreciate what we already have. 

We don’t know how “gifted” we already are 

We don’t know how grateful we should be. We are always looking and thinking of a future day when we achieve these things. When we reach that destination, we think we will be grateful.

Just the fact that you are able to sit and listen to this, then you already have so many things to be grateful for. 

Consider our ability to breathe freely… 

A few minutes ago we tried to sit for a while, just five to ten minutes. We tried to be comfortable in our posture and just be with it. If you could do that, then you have so many things to be grateful for. Because when you think about it, there are so many people who can’t have that comfort. 

Let’s say somebody is struggling with their breathing. When you see that person struggling, trying to breathe with much difficulty and suffering, you see what they are going through. 

As long as we can breathe comfortably, we don’t feel it. We don’t appreciate it. We don’t even notice that our body is breathing without difficulty. 

Consider our life without pain…

As long as there is no pain inside our body we don’t notice how comfortable we are. When you get a headache or toothache you complain. But before that complaint you were comfortable and you were not appreciating that. 

When you face difficulty, when you fall sick, then you start complaining. You start searching for painkillers. You try to get rid of this illness. But when we are comfortable, we don’t appreciate that. 

So if you are able to sit for a while and just be with your breath, just be with your posture, then you are so gifted, privileged. You already have so many things to be grateful for in your life. You are not suffering with some kind of unbearable pain or a breathing difficulty. Instead you can sit and be comfortable. So, when we think about it, we already have so many things to be grateful for. But we are not appreciating that. We don’t even notice these things.

When we practise mindfulness…

When we practise mindfulness, we try to sit in a comfortable manner. Try to appreciate that. Just be with your body and mind for a while. When we practise mindful walking, we just walk in a comfortable manner and just be with that process. Appreciate that you are able to walk. So that’s the practice that we are doing. As mindfulness, we try to appreciate that we are sitting, that we are walking.

So in a way, when practising mindfulness, you are appreciating your ability to breathe. You are appreciating your ability to walk. 

When you have some trouble with walking due to a broken leg or something, then only you realise how difficult it is to walk; how much weight this body contains. But when you can walk comfortably, you don’t even pay attention to it or even notice it. So in a way when we practise mindfulness, when we practise mindful walking and mindful sitting we try to appreciate that we are able to sit comfortably and breathe. That we are able to walk comfortably and just be with that walking. That’s what we are doing as mindfulness. We are appreciating the present moment. We don’t need anything else. 

We don’t need a future destination to be happy

We don’t need a future destination to be happy. We don’t need future achievements to be happy. Instead, we are happy and peaceful in the present moment. And that’s the deepest gratitude that you can have in your life. 

If you think you will be happy in the future, that means you are not happy in the present moment. If you think when you reach a certain destination you will be happy, that means you are not happy where you are now. If you think that when you achieve certain things you will be happy, then you are not happy with the current achievements. 

When we practise mindfulness, we are practising a deep level of gratitude

We are grateful for the things that we already have. And we don’t need anything in the future, any future destination to be happy. 

When you walk, you just try to be with the walking and you are happy and peaceful right then and there. When you sit you just try to be with this breathing and you are happy and peaceful right then and there. 

When we have meals, usually we are not paying attention to that meal, to that activity. Christians have this custom of saying grace before a meal. Before they eat, they mention that they are grateful for that meal, and they are grateful for the people who have provided this meal. 

When you practise mindfulness as you eat, you don’t have to remember anything; you don’t  have to recall anything. Instead, if you are with the meal, if you notice that you are eating, if you notice the flavour, if you notice the process, then you are practising gratitude. You are happy and peaceful with what you have and you are appreciating that present moment. You are appreciating your meal. 

Try practising mindfulness during a meal 

Usually it is very difficult to do. You work the entire day and come home and prepare dinner. You have your family members, but still you are not paying attention to your meal. Instead you are probably watching TV while having your dinner. Can’t we just sit and be with the family members and have our dinner? Can we just pay attention to the eating? Can we just spend 15 to 20 minutes appreciating that meal you (or someone) prepared?

So that’s the idea of the practice. Instead of thinking about future destinations, instead of thinking about future goals, we are happy and peaceful in the present moment and we are grateful for it. And that’s not the surface level of gratitude. That’s not shallow gratitude. Instead, it’s a deep level of gratitude. You are grateful for what you already have. You don’t need anything else to be happy. So that’s the real idea behind gratitude and that’s how we should be practising. 

When you practise  mindfulness, you are practising gratitude 

In a way, when we practise mindfulness, if you can be comfortable with your body and mind, you are practising gratitude. You are practising a deep level of gratitude that you are happy and peaceful. And when we see other people, sometimes it reminds us how blessed we are. When we see other people, they remind us how grateful we should be for our lives.

Now as a monk, I get to meet a lot of people. They come with so many complaints, so many issues. Some people have various mental difficulties and when you see them, when you talk to them, you realise how much of a trouble they are in; how much suffering they go through due to their illness. 

Some people suffer from bipolar disease and experience the highest of highs and the lowest of lows. From time to time, their mind goes to these extremes. When they go to the highest of highs, they say it feels like cloud nine. It feels like they can fly. And when they go to the lowest of lows, they can’t bear it. They feel like killing themselves. Sometimes they stay in that condition for days. 

So when you see somebody with an illness like that, when you see their suffering, then you can of course be grateful that you are comfortable in your mind. You don’t have this type of difficulty. 

Usually when  we go on pindapatha (begging for alms), we walk downhill. There’s this father climbing the mountain with his son who is suffering from down syndrome. So this  father is bringing his son with something to offer to the monks. Whenever the monks pass, he stops and just holds his son, trying to pay respect on behalf of both of them. But the son doesn’t have an idea of what is happening.  

They are coming to offer something to the monks. What is the reason for their coming? That person, the father is suffering (mentally) and his son is suffering with down syndrome. If the son had been healthy, then the father might not have come. So you can see the reasoning behind their appearance, you can see why they come. And when you see such people, you have compassion towards them. 

But you can also be grateful that you don’t have such difficulty. You don’t have to worry about such things. But when we don’t have troubles, when we don’t have difficulties, we are not appreciative of that. We don’t even notice how blessed we are. Instead, you want to reach some future destination, you want to reach some future goal and think that then only you will be happy. 

Keep your eyes open to see how blessed you are

You don’t have to do much. Just  keep your eyes open and you’ll see so many things. You’ll see so many signs in your surroundings that will tell you how blessed you already are and how grateful you should be. 

When you see the homeless, people who are hungry, people who are suffering with various diseases, people suffering with mental illness, then you see how grateful you should be. That appreciation we don’t have.

If we can be happy and peaceful in the present moment, we are practising gratitude. We are happy and peaceful with our body and mind and that’s something rare. That’s something rare  because when you fall sick, have pain or aches in your body, you can’t be happy and peaceful.

How we have trained our minds 

So while you are at it, why don’t you appreciate it? Why  don’t you just be with it? Why don’t you be happy and peaceful in the present moment and you don’t need anything else to be happy? So that’s the practice that we are doing. That’s the training that we are doing. Initially you might struggle because we are not usually comfortable in the present moment. That’s not how we have trained our minds. We are always looking into the future, always trying to reach a future destination. 

With mindfulness practice, we intentionally try to be happy and peaceful in the present moment 

As a beginner, you can just start with five to ten minutes of practice. Five to ten minutes of mindful walking. You don’t have to do much. Walk in a comfortable manner and be  happy and peaceful. Be comfortable in your body and mind. Notice what you feel when you try to be comfortable with your body and mind. Just sit for a while. Close your eyes and be comfortable in your current posture. You don’t have to  do much. Instead just simply be there with your body and mind. That’s the starting point. That’s how we are training ourselves. 

Five to ten minutes a day is a good start

Five to ten minutes daily you are practising mindful walking and mindful sitting. That’s a  good starting point towards this practice. Because probably your entire life you have trained your mind to reach a future destination, future goals. Even during school years you get the training to reach a future destination and future goal. Schools don’t teach us to be comfortable in your mind and body. Instead they teach us to reach for a future destination, a future goal. 

Depending on your age, you probably have 20 to 30 years of training in you. Always planning, always trying to reach a future destination, future goal.

If you are a beginner to mindfulness…

Initially for a beginner, it is very difficult to be comfortable in their mind and body. It is very difficult to remain walking for 10 to 15 minutes. It is very difficult to remain quietly sitting for 10 to 15 minutes.

You have to approach it gradually. For 10 minutes, try to be comfortable with your walking and just notice. You try to be comfortable with your sitting and just notice. That way, little by little you can approach this training. 

If you do it for a few weeks, then you realise that you can comfortably sit  for 15 to 20 minutes. You can comfortably walk for 15 to 20 minutes and just be with that process. Notice how you feel the walking, notice how you feel the sitting body, probably the breathing. 

You can do it. With a few weeks of  practice you become comfortable. Probably you can’t stay for a longer period. Still you are comfortable for 15 to 20 minutes with walking and sitting. That’s very important. 

Paying attention to the process

In a way we are intentionally paying  attention to the current process. Currently we are walking, currently we are sitting and we intentionally pay attention to it.

We try to be with that process. We try to be lost in that process. We try to be lost in the walking. We try to be lost in the sitting. That’s what we are doing.

Even in day-to-day activities we can try to be lost in that activity. Somebody was sharing their experience with the day-to-day practice a few weeks back and that person was saying that she practised mindful brushing. Initially it was very difficult to be grateful about the present activity which is brushing. But the more she practised, she realised it became much easier to be with the brushing and you tend to stay longer periods lost in that activity without even noticing that you kept brushing for like 15 to 20 minutes. Just lost in that activity and just be there. 

So that’s a good way to practise gratitude. That’s a good way to practise mindfulness. When you  practise like that, you realise you are comfortable in that process. You don’t even know how long you kept brushing. You are happy and comfortable and you are lost in that process. 

Breaking the default mode network

In neuroscience they say there is always this voice in your head; always commanding, commenting on everything. They call this default the default mode network. The default mode network with commenting and commanding in your head is a default process, an automatic process. 

When you intentionally pay attention to something, or intentionally do something, then only you can break this default network; and get out of the default mode. When you break it for, let’s say, 20 to 30 minutes, then afterwards you feel much more relaxed. When you play sports you are lost in that process. Sometimes you may not know how long you kept playing. So that’s a way to break that default mode network; a way to break that inner voice. 

Let’s say if you have some kind of a hobby like gardening or something else. You are comfortable in that activity; you are enjoying that activity. Then you can spend a few hours  without even knowing and you are lost in that activity. You are then breaking this default mode network. 

When you intentionally pay attention to something, or when you intentionally be with that process, and are lost in that process, you break this automatic function. When you do so, afterwards you feel much more comfortable. 

Even while practising mindful walking and sitting, we are intentionally bringing our attention to that activity. Again repetitively we keep paying attention to that activity, to sitting, walking, brushing or having a meal. Repetitively we pay attention to the activity. After a while you become comfortable doing so. When you practise for a few weeks, or a few days you become more comfortable and naturally you can get lost in that process. Spending 20 or 30  minutes mindfully walking, mindfully sitting or doing whatever the activities that you do is a good way to break this default mode or default network.

Some people have difficulty breaking out of the default mode

Some people find it difficult to break this even with sports. So they say they have Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD). When you have ADD, you have trouble breaking this default mode network and getting rid of these commanding inner voices. They have trouble paying attention to something. 

Ability to pay attention increases with repetition 

With practice, you realise that when you try to improve gradually, your ability to pay attention increases. While walking you try to be with that walking process and try to notice a few steps continuously. While sitting you try to be with a few breaths continuously. Or when you eat you try to have a few bites of that meal with attention. You are doing this intentionally. You are training your mind to be with that process. You intentionally try to be grateful for the present activity. With repetitive practice you realise that you feel comfortable in that process. When you feel comfortable with something, naturally you tend to spend more and more time lost in that process; being attentive, paying attention to the things you notice.

So that is how we should be continuing with our mindfulness practice. Little by little we improve. Little by little we try to be comfortable with our walking, sitting and other mindful activities we engage in. That is intentional, repetitive training. When you train like this, with time you realise that you are grateful in the present moment. You are comfortable in the present moment. And it is coming to you naturally. 

Earlier, you probably tried it intentionally, and tried it forcefully. But with repetitive practice you realise that your mind is naturally accepting the present moment. Your mind is becoming comfortable in the present moment. That only comes with time. When that happens, we are not intentionally bringing the attention to the present moment; but it is naturally coming to you. It is coming automatically to you. So that is something achieved through repetitive practice. 

That is why most of you with meditation experiences say, that with a few weeks of practice, your attention naturally returns to the present moment. Even in your day-to-day activities you realise that it is naturally coming to the present moment. 

When your mind naturally comes to the present moment…

When you are walking, say to your office, still your attention remains with that. You notice the steps. When you are having a meal, naturally your attention stays with that. You notice the flavour and you notice the process. 

We get to this stage little by little and you experience that your mind is naturally returning to the present moment. Your mind is naturally accepting the present moment.That is a great  achievement that you gain through practice. 

Earlier, your mind was not comfortable in the present moment. Your mind didn’t appreciate the present moment. But, now with the training, with repetitive practice, your mind is accepting the  present moment. Your mind is comfortable in the present moment. In a way your mind is more grateful for the things that you already have.

Earlier your mind wanted things in order to be grateful. It needed a present or some other thing to be grateful for. But now it is grateful for the things that you already have. Your mind is grateful that there is no pain in your body. Your mind is grateful that you are able to breathe or walk comfortably. It is grateful that you have a roof over your head and food  to eat. So that is how little by little we can develop our mindfulness practice. That is how we can train our mind to appreciate the things that we already have. 

Mindfulness practitioners make comments like these…

Sometimes they say I noticed a toothache. Then with mindfulness I noticed that although there’s a tooth that’s aching the rest of the teeth are not aching. So although even with the one tooth that is  aching, you can appreciate that the rest are fine.

If you notice a pain in your body, let’s say in your knee. Although there’s pain in your knee you realise there’s no pain in the other  parts of the body. That’s how we gradually develop mindfulness practice.

Earlier your attention naturally went to the place that was aching, and painful. But now your mind is deeper and sees the bigger picture. You realise there’s a tooth that’s aching but the rest is fine. You realise there’s pain in a certain part of your body but the rest is fine. That is how we are developing our mind. That’s how we train ourselves to appreciate what we already have. 

So this way you can really see how grateful we are when we are present with our mind and body. You can really see the depth of the gratitude we are practising when we are happy and peaceful in the present moment.

This week’s  topic is an invitation to be grateful in the present moment. Not just the shallow level of gratitude which requires something to be grateful for. When practising mindfulness, we are practising a deeper level of gratitude, and we are happy and peaceful in the present moment. We don’t need anything else to be happy. That is where you can really achieve happiness. If you think you will be happy in some future day, that day will never reach you. You will never reach that destination. To find happiness you have to be happy and peaceful in the present moment. That is how real happiness will arise. 

About the Nissarana Vanaya Mindfulness for Beginners Program

Nissarana Vanaya is a renowned meditation monastery located in Mitirigala, in the Western Province of Sri Lanka, close to the  town of Kirindiwela.  

Visit the Nissarana Vanaya website for details about its meditation retreats.

The weekly online Zoom sessions some of which are also available on Facebook live are listed in this page.

The Mindfulness for Beginner session takes place each Sunday from 7:00am to 8;30am Sri Lanka Time (GMT+5:30). You can join the weekly session via this link. Alternately, you can use the Zoom  Meeting ID: 259 660 9302 with Pass Code: Nissarana

The original recording of the session covered in this article is available here. 

Use this link to access all the Nissarana Vanaya Dhamma Talks & Discussions in English. 

The Mindfulness For Beginners series past recordings are here
http://www.nissarana.lk/file_manager/browseCollection.php?Group=495

Adapted from audio transcript by: Nilooka Dissanayake

What Comes First? Is it Happiness or Success?

Most people would say that happiness follows success. Isn’t that what we’ve always been taught to believe?

Shawn Achor disagrees. Achor, the New York Times best selling author, educator and consultant to Fortune 500 companies, explains the reasons in his book, The Happiness Advantage: The Seven Principles of Positive Psychology That Fuel Success and Performance at Work. True, it was first published in 2010, but its message remains as powerful today as it was then.

We need to take Shawn Achor seriously since he is a leading expert on the connection between happiness, success and potential. His research on mindset got him on the cover of the Harvard Business Review. His TED talk has over 25 million views and is one of the most popular TED Talks of all time.

In The Happiness Advantage, Achor explores how happiness and success are connected. The main idea in the book is that happiness leads to success, not  the other way around. 

“… we think we have to be successful, then we’ll be happier. But our brains work in the opposite order. If you can raise somebody’s level of positivity in the present, then their brain experiences what we now call a happiness advantage, which is your brain at positive performs significantly better than at negative, neutral or stressed. Your intelligence rises, your creativity rises, your energy levels rise.” 

~ Shawn Achor

Achor supports this idea with a broad range of scientific research and many practical strategies.

“In fact, we’ve found that every single business outcome improves,” he says “Your brain at positive is 31% more productive than your brain at negative, neutral or stressed. You’re 37% better at sales. Doctors are 19 percent faster, more accurate at coming up with the correct diagnosis when positive instead of negative, neutral or stressed.”

~ Shawn Achor

Achor argues that happiness is a skill that can be developed through intentional practices and not merely the result of external circumstances. 

“… you can train your brain to be able to become more positive. In just a two-minute span of time done for 21 days in a row, we can actually rewire your brain, allowing your brain to actually work more optimistically and more successfully.

~Shawn Achor

“We’ve done these things in research now in every company that I’ve worked with, getting them to write down three new things that they’re grateful for for 21 days in a row, three new things each day. And at the end of that, their brain starts to retain a pattern of scanning the world not for the negative, but for the positive first.

“Journaling about one positive experience you’ve had over the past 24 hours allows your brain to relive it. Exercise teaches your brain that your behavior matters. We find that meditation allows your brain to get over the cultural ADHD that we’ve been creating by trying to do multiple tasks at once and allows our brains to focus on the task at hand. 

Now here’s the summary of the book.

7 Principles and Strategies That Leads to the Happiness Advantage

The book introduces 7 principles or strategies that contribute to The Happiness Advantage:

1. The Happiness Advantage: When we are happy, our brains function more effectively which results in increasing our creativity, productivity, and resilience.
   
2. The Fulcrum and the Lever: We can create a positive mindset shift that helps us to overcome challenges and achieve better results. We can get there by changing our mindset and focusing on positive aspects. 
   
3. The Tetris Effect: Our brains can get stuck in a negative pattern and often do. However, it is possible to rewire our brains for happiness by consciously training ourselves to focus on positive experiences and opportunities we encounter.  
   
4. Falling Up: Yes, that is the opposite of falling down. We need to learn to view our failure and setbacks as opportunities for growth and learning. This enables us to bounce back stronger and become more resilient after failures or setbacks.
   
5. The Zorro Circle: We need to break down our big goals into smaller, more manageable tasks. That way, we can gradually expand our influence and regain a sense of control. We grow in confidence if we can focus on small victories, one after the other, within a limited circle of our own control. 
   
6. The 20-Second Rule: My favourite! The 20-second rule is about eliminating barriers and making positive habits easier to build and maintain. In the book, Achor talks about how he began to play guitar more often merely by placing it in his living room (instead of hidden away in a closet). When he came home, it was within easy reach and no extra effort was needed to play. At the same time, Achor says he also removed his television remote control batteries in his room (20 seconds away) instead of inside the remote near the sofa. Through this single measure he managed to dramatically reduce the time spent watching television. By reducing the time and effort we need to engage in positive behaviors, we can increase the likelihood of successfully adopting a desired habit. And by making it harder to engage in negative habits we can shed those habits. 
   
7. Social Investment: Our social connections and supportive relationships—family, friends and colleagues, near and far—are important for promoting happiness and well-being in our lives. We can create a profound impact on our overall happiness and success by taking time to build strong social networks. We do the same by taking time to have meaningful interactions with others around us. For example, if you want to regularly walk or run or engage in some positive activity, get a buddy who is also committed to doing the same thing. That way, on the days that you are too lazy or don’t feel like it, the mere fact that the other person is wanting to do it will encourage you to get going. 

In summary, Shawn Achor’s The Happiness Advantage: The Seven Principles of Positive Psychology That Fuel Success and Performance at Work offers evidence-based insights and many practical strategies we can use to leverage the power of happiness. 

In doing so, we can be sure of enhancing our productivity, creativity, and overall well-being. Adopting a positive mindset and intentionally cultivating happiness, we can create positive ripple effects in our personal and professional lives.

Shawn Achor has since published other books along the same theme, including Big Potential: How Transforming the Pursuit of Success Raises Our Achievement, Happiness, and Well-Being (2018) Big Potential explains how pursuing happiness and success individually limits our potential, capping what we can achieve on our own. Only by pursuing happiness and success together with others can we realise our Big Potential.

Check out the book, or watch Shawn Achor on TED Talks. There are more videos that you may enjoy on ShawnAchor.com.

Photo by Andre Furtado

9 Tips to Improve Your Working Memory

With a full-time course load, extracurricular activities or a part-time job college students need all the help with remembering many things. This article looks at how to improve your working memory. Students of all ages can benefit from it!

https://www.collegeraptor.com/find-colleges/articles/tips-tools-advice/how-to-improve-your-working-memory/

@collegeraptor @MindcultureGuru

12 Brain Rules to Take Good Care of Your Brain

Do you value your brain?

Although our brain is our most valuable asset, most people do not bother to take care of their brain.

Do you take good care of your brain? If you do, or at least want to do so from now, you will want to know what is in this book: Brain Rules – 12 Principles for Surviving and Thriving at Work, Home and School.

The author, John Medina is a developmental molecular biologist who compiled a set of principles called “Brain Rules” to explain how our brains work and how we can optimize our learning and cognitive abilities.

Reading Brain Rules changed my life. I had always imagined that a few hours of sleep was good enough. Didn’t Lord Buddha only sleep four hours, as we have been told. But of course, I don’t have a serene mind without stress like the Buddha did. Therefore, my brain needed the sleep. So I began to get enough sleep from then on.

Here is a summary of the brain rules from his book:

Rule 01. EXERCISE – Exercise boosts brain power.

Physical activity improves brain function by increasing oxygen flow and promoting the growth of new neurons.
See video on exercise.

Rule 02: SURVIVAL – The human brain evolved, too.

We don’t have just one brain—we have three. The lizard brain, the brain like a cat’s brain and the most powerful human brain.

See video on survival.

Rule 03: WIRING – Every brain is wired differently.

And what we learn and experience throughout life changes our brain, rewiring it.

See video on wiring.

Rule 04: ATTENTION – People don’t pay attention to boring things.

We pay attention to and remember things better when they are presented in a meaningful and engaging way. Our brains can only focus on one thing at a time. Say bye to multitasking!

See video on attention.

Rule 05: SHORT-TERM MEMORY – Repeat to remember.

Improve chances of remembering something by reproducing the environment in which you first learnt it.

Rule 06: LONG-TERM MEMORY – Remember to repeat.

Most memories will disappear within minutes. Make your long-term memory more reliable by incorporating new information bit by bit and repeating it at timed intervals.

See video on memory.

Rule 07 SLEEP – Sleep well, think well.

Sufficient sleep is crucial for memory consolidation and overall brain health. Lack of sleep can impair cognitive function.

See video on sleep.

Rule 08: STRESS – Stressed brains don’t learn the same way as non-stressed brains.

Chronic stress can negatively impact the brain, impairing learning and memory. Reducing stress levels is essential for optimal brain function.

See video on stress.

Rule 09: SENSORY INTEGRATION – Stimulate more of the senses at the same time.

Our senses evolved to work together. Vision, for example influences hearing. We learn best when we stimulate several senses at once.

See video on sensory integration.

Rule 10: VISION – Vision trumps all other senses.

Vision is our most dominant sense and take up half of the brain’s resources. Visual information is processed more effectively. We learn and remember best with pictures, not through written or spoken words.

Rule 11: GENDER – Male and female brains are quite different.

Men’s and women’s brains differ structurally as well as biochemically. There are cognitive differences between males and females, which can influence learning styles. Understanding these differences can help create effective educational strategies.

See video on gender.

Rule 12: EXPLORATION – We are powerful and natural explorers.

Babies model how we learn. Certain parts of the adult brain remain as malleable as a baby’s, enabling us to create neurons and to learn new things throughout our entire lifespan.

See video on exploration.

Brain Rules give insights into how our brains function. They offer practical recommendations that will help us optimize how we learn, remember and keep our brains healthy. I hope these insights help you become better, like they did for me.

Want to learn more about Brain Rules?

Check out this link from John Median’s site for chapter summaries.
Since the original book he has written additional books: Brain Rules For Baby, Brain Rules For Aging Well and Brain Rules For Work.

Here are a host of video tutorials from John Medina.

If you are interested in improving your brain, visit Mindculture

Mindculture.wordpress.com is my blog dedicated to all things brain.

Will you look after your brain from right now, today?

I look forward to your comments.

Images: thenakedscientists.com

Daily Rituals: How Artists Work

By Mason Currey (Editor)
Alfred A. Knopf, 2013

INTRODUCTION

Nearly every weekday morning for a year and a half, I got up at 5:30, brushed my teeth, made a cup of coffee, and sat down to write about how some of the greatest minds of the past four hundred years approached this exact same task—that is, how they made the time each day to do their best work, how they organized their schedules in order to be creative and productive. By writing about the admittedly mundane details of my subjects’ daily lives— when they slept and ate and worked and worried—I hoped to provide a novel angle on their personalities and careers, to sketch entertaining, small-bore portraits of the artist as a creature of habit. “Tell me what you eat, and I shall tell you what you are,” the French gastronome Jean Anthelme Brillat-Savarin once wrote. I say, tell me what time you eat, and whether you take a nap afterward. 

In that sense, this is a superficial book. It’s about the circumstances of creative activity, not the product; it deals with manufacturing rather than meaning. But it’s also, inevitably, personal. (John Cheever thought that you couldn’t even type a business letter without revealing something of your inner self—isn’t that the truth?) My underlying concerns in the book are issues that I struggle with in my own life: How do you do meaningful creative work while also earning a living? Is it better to devote yourself wholly to a project or to set aside a small portion of each day? And when there doesn’t seem to be enough time for all you hope to accomplish, must you give things up (sleep, income, a clean house), or can you learn to condense activities, to do more in less time, to “work smarter, not harder,” as my dad is always telling me? More broadly, are comfort and creativity incompatible, or is the opposite true: Is finding a basic level of daily comfort a prerequisite for sustained creative work?

I don’t pretend to answer these questions in the following pages—probably some of them can’t be answered, or can be resolved only individually, in shaky personal compromises—but I have tried to provide examples of how a variety of brilliant and successful people have confronted many of the same challenges. I wanted to show how grand creative visions translate to small daily increments; how one’s working habits influence the work itself, and vice versa. The book’s title is Daily Rituals, but my focus in writing it was really people’s routines. The word connotes ordinariness and even a lack of thought; to follow a routine is to be on autopilot. But one’s daily routine is also a choice, or a whole series of choices. In the right hands, it can be a finely calibrated mechanism for taking advantage of a range of limited resources: time (the most limited resource of all) as well as willpower, self-discipline, optimism. A solid routine fosters a well-worn groove for one’s mental energies and helps stave off the tyranny of moods. This was one of William James’s favorite subjects. He thought you wanted to put part of your life on autopilot; by forming good habits, he said, we can “free our minds to advance to really interesting fields of action.” Ironically, James himself was a chronic procrastinator and could never stick to a regular schedule.

As it happens, it was an inspired bout of procrastination that led to the creation of this book. One Sunday afternoon in July 2007, I was sitting alone in the dusty offices of the small architecture magazine that I worked for, trying to write a story due the next day. But instead of buckling down and getting it over with, I was reading The New York Times online, compulsively tidying my cubicle, making Nespresso shots in the kitchenette, and generally wasting the day. It was a familiar predicament. I’m a classic “morning person,” capable of considerable focus in the early hours but pretty much useless after lunch. That afternoon, to make myself feel better about this often inconvenient predilection (who wants to get up at 5:30 every day?), I started searching the Internet for information about other writers’ working schedules. These were easy to find, and highly entertaining. It occurred to me that someone should collect these anecdotes in one place—hence the Daily Routines blog I launched that very afternoon (my magazine story got written in a last-minute panic the next morning) and, now, this book. 

The blog was a casual affair; I merely posted descriptions of people’s routines as I ran across them in biographies, magazine profiles, newspaper obits, and the like. For the book, I’ve pulled together a vastly expanded and better researched collection, while also trying to maintain the brevity and diversity of voices that made the original appealing. As much as possible, I’ve let my subjects speak for themselves, in quotes from letters, diaries, and interviews. In other cases, I have cobbled together a summary of their routines from secondary sources. And when another writer has produced the perfect distillation of his subject’s routine, I have quoted it at length rather than try to recast it myself. I should note here that this book would have been impossible without the research and writing of the hundreds of biographers, journalists, and scholars whose work I drew upon. I have documented all of my sources in the Notes section, which Thope will also serve as a guide to further reading. 

Compiling these entries, I kept in mind a passage from a 1941 essay by V. S. Pritchett. Writing about Edward Gibbon, Pritchett takes note of the great English historian’s remarkable industry—even during his military service, Gibbon managed to find the time to continue his scholarly work, toting along Horace on the march and reading up on pagan and Christian theology in his tent. “Sooner or later,” Pritchett writes, “the great men turn out to be all alike. They never stop working. They never lose a minute. It is very depressing.”

What aspiring writer or artist has not felt this exact sentiment from time to time? Looking at the achievements of past greats is alternately inspiring and utterly discouraging. But Pritchett is also, of course, wrong. For every cheerfully industrious Gibbon who worked nonstop and seemed free of the self-doubt and crises of confidence that dog us mere mortals, there is a William James or a Franz Kafka, great minds who wasted time, waited vainly for inspiration to strike, experienced torturous blocks and dry spells, were racked by doubt and insecurity. In reality, most of the people in this book are somewhere in the middle—committed to daily work but never entirely confident of their progress; always wary of the one off day that undoes the streak. All of them made the time to get their work done. But there is infinite variation in how they structured their lives to do so. This book is about that variation. And I hope that readers will find it encouraging rather than depressing. Writing it, 1 often thought of a line from a letter Kafka sent to his beloved Felice Bauer in 1912. Frustrated by his cramped living situation and his deadening day job, he complained, “time is short, my strength is limited, the office is a horror, the apartment is noisy, and if a pleasant, straightforward life is not possible then one must try to wriggle through by subtle maneuvers.” Poor Kafka! But then who among us can expect to live a pleasant, straightforward life? For most of us, much of the time, it is a slog, and Kafka’s subtle maneuvers are not so much a last resort as an ideal. Here’s to wriggling through.

Available on Amazon.com

Lithuanian Poetry: There is a Land Where Rivers Flow

By Pranas Vaičaitis (1876 – 1901)

There is a land where rivers flow
Through humming forests merrily
And babble gaily as they go
While tuneful skylarks sing in glee.
There people shed abundant sweat
In summer, working heavily,
And threadbare clothing-shred on shred–
Covers their bodies scantily.
And yet they treat with all their heart
A guest with hospitality–
With food and drink all piping hot
Without undue formality.
The slender lasses of that land
Are fairer than in any song.
That land is Lithuania.
But I was there not very long…
Inviting folk to sleep, the sun
Beneath the skyline hides away;
Poor Lithuanians then sing
After the labours of the day,
And pretty girls with faces bent
Towards the rue, at evening hours
Water it, breathing in its scent,
And pluck the lily’s fragile flowers.

A warm, soft evening I recall
After a torrid summer day;
With peace and calm it fills my soul,
While songs rise somewhere far away.
A distant bell sends heavy chimes,
Pure clear and loud they come to me.

I cannot sleep, although the birds
Long since sleep fast in every tree.
Like river waters flow my thoughts,
My spirit bathes in perfect bliss,
And Nature seems to say to me:
How lovely Lithuania is!
My country! What a lovely land
I left and lost so suddenly!
No words are there that could express
My anguish flowing turbidly!

1897
From: The Amber Lyre by Gintaro Krasto Poezija: 18th-20th Century Lithuanian Poetry
Translated by Dorian Rottenberg
Photo by urtimud.89

How Do I Want to Retire?

Daily writing prompt

How do you want to retire?

View all responses

I don’t plan to retire. Retiring is for people who can no longer work or who no longer want to work.

I love my work, varied as it is, being a ghotstwriter, trainer, social media service provider and blogger.

I have been engaged in remote work since the previous financial crisis in 2009. I love the freedom it gives. I earn when I work. I choose when and with whom I work. And as a result, most of my work is extremely exciting, fun, entertaining and offers numerous learning opportunities.

I am a learner. My work opens up opportunities for me to learn many new things… from plastic surgery to logistics, future of work and green software. As the world and technology advances, there will be many more interesting things I can learn through my work.

What do I get out of retiring? Boredom. I definitely do not want that. So I don’t plan to retire. I will just engage in things that I love working on till I die.

Photo by RF._.studio

The Blueprint of Success Formula (Part 2)

There are many people I know who seem to brim over with great ideas and they have the acumen & intelligence to be successful, but they lack the personal mastery to direct their emotions into getting themselves to take action. They may have a great business ideas but their fear holds them back. They may set inspiring new goals, but they basically lack the motivation to do what it takes. They may even get themselves to take action initially, but by nature stop once they experience frustration or anxiety. In this article series, you will learn how to take charge of your emotional states in order to consistently perform at your peak.

The Blueprint of Success Formula (Part 2) — DiyunuwaBlog.com | දියුණුව

The Blueprint of Success Formula

GUEST WRITER: Shantanu Das Sharma, author of Awaken The Incredible Within – Incredible is the New Giant, an Amazon #1 bestseller. 

Success is a lousy teacher.
It seduces smart people into thinking they can’t lose.
– Bill Gates

Okay, now that we get to understand that we all have the identical bio-hardware, the identical mental resources and it’s just a choice of our installing the appropriate programs, let us begin by treading in the footsteps of the winners, the people who produce extraordinary results… the people who have learned to direct their resources in an optimal way. If we can just model the patterns of excellence they exhibit, then certainly we can reproduce the same outstanding results they have!

Is it that simple?

Is there a formula for success?

Well, a question that I have always asked myself is this: Is there a formula for success? Do all successful individuals follow a pattern that enable them to get what they want? After studying sufficient number of role models from books, interviews and seminars, I got convinced that although many successful individuals, in all fields of their endeavours, appear to make very different decisions given similar situations and they also use very different approaches and strategies, yet all of them have something in common. And it is just this. All of them take a series of distinctive steps to get to what they want. I call these series of steps the Blueprint of Success Formula.

Moreover, it does not really matter if you want to be a whiz inventor, successful marketer or a salesperson, inspiring trainer, pioneering entrepreneur, top-notch doctor or journalist. The universal steps remain identical. And from it emerges a pattern which necessarily involves six major steps. Follow this pattern or success formula, and you will be able to achieve anything you want. Miss any of these steps, and your dreams will never become the reality that you deserve.

Step 1. Be Very Specific About Your Goal

The first step to getting what you desire is to know exactly what it is that you want.

This sounds simple and obvious enough. Yet, unfortunately, most people never seem to get what they want, simply because they are not clear with specificity about what it is they want in the first place! Most people say that they want to be successful in life, yet ask them what they want to achieve specifically and most would say, ‘I am not really sure’ or they will give vague answers such as, ‘I want to be happy’, ‘I want to have more money’, ‘I want a better job’, ’I want to have less worries‘- all of which are generic in nature and hence in reality nonspecific.

Well, know this. Unless you have a specific goal, there is nothing tangible you can focus your time and energy on. This is why most people find themselves going in all other directions, ending up nowhere.

Unless you have a specific target, you cannot develop an effective strategy to get there. The strategy required to make Rs. 200,000 is uniquely different from the strategy needed to make Rs. 20 Crores in all obvious terms.

The moment you can clarify your goals, you can see them in your mind’s-eye (it’s called creative visualization) and you will begin to have focus in your life. It will then become crystal clear to you what it is you must do to get there.

Biographies of the most successful and legendary people, again in all pursuits, show time and again that their outstanding achievements are rarely outcomes of accident or chance. They did not have success thrust onto them. Their phenomenal successes are the results of clearly defined outcomes that they had predetermined, and worked towards unwaveringly, often at a very early stage of their life.

Biographies of the most successful and legendary people in all pursuits, show that their outstanding achievements are rarely outcomes of accident or chance.

Their phenomenal successes are the results of clearly defined outcomes that they had predetermined, and worked towards unwaveringly, often at a very early stage of their life.

Rarely few successful experiences happen by chance… whether it is winning a position or a race. Most of all happen by design. Yet, the unfortunate fact is that most people do not have a plan for their lives, and hence they end up falling into somebody else’s plan. It’s only when we know what we want very specifically that we are able to focus all our talents and energy like a laser beam honing in on its target. And in moving unwaveringly towards it, we develop the resources necessary to make it happen. Wherever you are in your life right now, you must begin to set specific goals (instead of generic goals) on what you want to actually achieve in the different areas of your life. In subsequent articles we will focus on how you can design the ultimate destiny for yourself!

Step 2. Develop a Strategy

Everything is possible. It is only a question of the strategy used.

Goal >>> Strategy

The second step in the Blueprint of Success Formula is to develop a strategy that will move you towards your outcome. Again, the more specific your goal is, the easier it is to develop an appropriate strategy. You can have all the drive and energy, but without the right strategy, you will never get what you want.

By the same token, every outcome is possible, given an effective strategy.

For example, imagine yourself as the small business owner of a fruit shop that makes Rs. 10,000 in profits a month. Let’s say that you decided to set a goal of increasing profits to Rs. 15,000 a month.

Would that be possible? Probably. You could work a lot harder, raise prices, increase trading hours, sell on-line or create a loyalty program.

What if you set a goal of making Rs. 3 crores a month from your fruit business? Would it be achievable?

Most people would say, ‘Of course not, there is no way you can make that kind of money from a fruit business like that!’

True enough. Making Rs. 3 crores a month from that fruit business is impossible, if the owner continues to use the same business strategy. Yet, if he were to completely change the way he now does his small localized fruit business, would it be possible?

For instance, the strategy he could use would start by his studying how to greatly expand his market: he would write a dynamic business plan, raise capital through investments, invest in R & D to develop a superior brand of fruit (for example, Organic Certified food products are seeing phenomenal growth everywhere as people become health conscious) and widen his range of fruit (e.g. offer sun dried fruit without sulphur, candied fruit using organic sugar, pureed fruit rolls for kids), support reliable new suppliers, build a franchise system and then license thousands of business owners around the world to sell his fruit.

Would it then be possible for him to earn Rs.3 crores a month? Of course it would! With enough flexibility in our strategy, we can achieve just about anything. You still wonder how a local fruit shop can possibly expand and go global. Impossible?

Step 3. Take Consistent Action

Goal >>> Strategy >>> Action

The third step is to get yourself to take consistent action, using the strategy you have crafted. This will move you, step by step, towards your goal. Consistent action is what separates the thinkers or dreamers from the doers. Many highly educated people know what to do, they think they know how to do it, but they never do anything about it.

That is why many of them end up as professionals and consultants, working for successful entrepreneurs who had mediocre grades in school. Fine, if that’s what they want in life, there is nothing wrong as long as they are fulfilled.

But if you are not satisfied with your status quo, then DO something about it.

Do you know someone who may be less talented and intelligent than you are but is a lot more successful?

Have you ever asked yourself, ‘I know I am better than they are, but why are they so much more successful?’

Well, you may be smarter, but they take a lot more action and that is why they get a lot more results! And one of the actions they take may well mean their learning rapport/social building skills and teamwork skills, all necessary tools for any kind of success.

The third step is to get yourself to take consistent action, using the strategy you have crafted.
This will move you, step by step, towards your goal.

So why do so many intelligent people fail to take consistent action towards their goals?

Well, first understand that what drives our actions are the emotional states that we experience. Emotions like fear, inertia, anxiety and uncertainty paralyze us from taking action.

On the other hand emotions like enthusiasm, motivation and confidence excite us and get us to make things happen. The ability to direct and manage your states for peak performance is what is called Personal Mastery.

Author’s Note

I facilitate Thought Leaders, Change Makers; Professionals & Business Owners translate NLP concepts into actions to achieve and elicit personal excellence. I conduct NLP Lifestyle Coaching Certification programs for individuals, corporate and celebrity clients. In the next article, I will reveal about ‘Neuro-Connections – The Key to Human Behavioural Patterns & Thoughts’ and after that you will come to know in the following articles, how you can utilise concepts of NLP+ in all walks of your life to replicate the success blueprint of a winner mindset. So, stay tuned every week to this series and fasten your seat belt to ‘Enhance Your Lifestyle With NLP+’

About the Author

Shantanu Das Sharma is the creator of the concept NLP Lifestyle Coaching with NLP+, founder of Neuromind Leadership Academy, India and author of an Amazon #1 Best Seller, NLP Lifestyle Master Trainer & Coach, Clean Language Facilitator & Strategic Interventionist. He is a Senior Associate Editor, ICN Group.

This article was initially published by the ICN Group under the Patterns of Excellence in Lifestyle, Enhance your Lifestyle with NLP+: Part 3

Previous Articles in This Series

You Got Every Resource You May Ever Require To Succeed In This Lifetime

Neuro Connections Are the Key to Boosting Your Brain Power – Here’s What You Can Do Today

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Photo by Kaboompics .com from Pexels

Photo by Ann H from Pexels

Photo by Designecologist from Pexels

Neuro Connections Are the Key to Boosting Your Brain Power – Here’s What You Can Do Today

GUEST WRITER: Shantanu Das Sharma, author of Awaken The Incredible Within – Incredible is the New Giant, an Amazon #1 bestseller. 

Neuro connections are the key to human behavioural patterns and thoughts. Yes, you can boost up your brain power if you want to. This articles tells you what you can do to boost up your brain power.

When we have such immensely powerful internal resources, why so few produce extraordinary results? How is it that only a few in every community or country are able to produce exceptional ideas, stay motivated & focused, take action consistently and create a level of success we can only admire with a sense of awe?

The difference lies once again in the way we use our brain. Or misuse it. Or abuse it.

How Many Brain Cells Have You?

Our behaviors, thoughts, skills and abilities are determined not by the number of brain cells that we possess, but rather by how our neurons are connected together. Each of us has different neuro connections and that is the reason how and why we think and behave differently. Like, if someone you know is very good with numbers, it is just because he has a lot richer neuro-connections in the area of mathematical-logical thinking. And at the same time, this person might not be very confident in ways that he communicates, because he might have poorer neural connections in this different area of intellect.

Your Emotions and Habits

Similarly, it goes for your emotions and habits. If we are always lazy and demotivated, it is because our brain cells are wired in certain ways. It is wired in such a way that that if you are like this, then your brain cells are wired in a way that you constantly fire off negative emotions like procrastination.

Those who are always focussed and motivated have a very different set of neural patterns wired up in their brain. The type of neuro-connections you have now is set by how your brain has been stimulated and exposed, even before you were born. Your neural patterns begin developing twenty weeks from the time of conception, in your mother’s womb. If you got a gift of mathematics, it possibly could be because your brain had been exposed to lot of mathematical stimuli by your mother or people around you.

Video: If by Rudyard Kipling

I discovered this poem in one of my father’s poetry books when I was a young teen. I am not entirely sure we were taught this at school. But it has been a huge influence in my life. I simply would not be me without it, for sure.

 

If

If you can keep your head when all about you
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you;
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,
But make allowance for their doubting too:
If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,
Or, being lied about, don’t deal in lies,
Or being hated don’t give way to hating,
And yet don’t look too good, nor talk too wise;

If you can dream—and not make dreams your master;
If you can think—and not make thoughts your aim,
If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster
And treat those two impostors just the same:.
If you can bear to hear the truth you’ve spoken
Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,
Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken,
And stoop and build’em up with worn-out tools;

If you can make one heap of all your winnings
And risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss,
And lose, and start again at your beginnings,
And never breathe a word about your loss:
If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew
To serve your turn long after they are gone,
And so hold on when there is nothing in you
Except the Will which says to them: “Hold on!”

If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,
Or walk with Kings—nor lose the common touch,
If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you,
If all men count with you, but none too much:
If you can fill the unforgiving minute
With sixty seconds’ worth of distance run,
Yours is the Earth and everything that’s in it,
And—which is more—you’ll be a Man, my son!

Rudyard Kipling

When I was a teen it irked me that it is written for a male-dominated world. But I did not hold a grudge against Kipling and just put it down to him living in a whole different world to the 20th century I grew up in where women could do and be all the things that men could and be. Well most.

Please pass on to anyone who’d benefit from it.

I got the text from PoemHunter.com. You can read more Rudyard Kipling poems there.

Exploring the Power of YOU

Were you selfish pure and simple as you rushed along the way,
Or is someone mighty grateful for a deed you did today?@TheHappyRajSaga #mindcluture #inspiration #JoyTrain @Diyunuwa #thinkBigSundayWithMarsha

 

The Power of YOU (1/8)

Is anybody happier because you passed his way?
Does anyone remember that you spoke to him today?

via @DiyunuwaYouTubeChannel @TheHappyRajSaga @MindcultureGuru
#mindcluture #brain #quotes #inspiration #joytrain

10 signs you’re evolving and growing, even when it feels like you’re not

Here’s how you can know that you are evolving and growing:

1) There is Increased self-awareness

2) You are open to learning

3) You are resilient in the face of challenges

4) You can regulate your emotions better than ever

5) You have empathy and compassion

6) You have a vision

7) You know how to have healthy boundaries

8) Your communication skills have developed

9) You practice gratitude and positivity

10) You practice self-care and are conscious about your personal wellbeing

Ask yourself how far you have come. It is okay if you have far to go. But you are better than you used to be on many fronts. That means you have evolved. You have grown.

The above points are from an article by Isabel Cabrera, published in The Expert Editor. Read the full article here.

Image by Mikhail Nilov via pexels.com

If you display these 12 behaviors, you’re truly at peace with yourself

If you display these 12 behaviors, you’re truly at peace with yourself

• Savour small moments
• Embrace #minimalism
• Use tech deliberately
• Connected to #nature
• Practice #gratitude and more.

Read more at https://buff.ly/45wggyq Via @hackspiritorg

@MindcultureGuru @Diyunuwa @TrainerNilooka

Psychology expert : 5 toxic phrases ‘highly selfish, entitled’ people always use—and how to deal with them

A psychology expert shares 5 toxic phrases ‘highly selfish, entitled’ people always use—and how to deal with them https://cnb.cx/45sYrQU via @CNBC

psychology #relationships #mindculture #mindfulness @MindcultureGuru #SriLanka

Mountain Poetesses

By Tanzila Zumakulova

In my Bulkarian land of crags, snow-blown,
For centuries in silent calm immersed,
Until my birth it was not ever known
For women to engage in writing verse.

They say so, but I don’t believe their word.
I know of those unknown to everyone—
The women who composed the songs not heard,
The ballads still untold, the poems unsung.

How many poetesses silent lie
In cemeteries, in settlements by the way,
And are they guilty that, not asking why,
In life they were as tongue-tied as today?

A cursed law stopped up their ears in thrall,
And on their lips a seal was set foraye.
And they were born, according to that law,
To live in silence, and still speechless die.

I see those distant sisters there of mine,
Whose silent protests to the heavens rise.
I see how burning tears have etched each line
Which on poetic, simple faces lies.

My great-grand-dams, I cannot boast indeed.
From out my heart the word I can set free,
Only because you once were robbed of speech,
While here today it’s freely granted me.

And therefore so severely, deeply stirred,
I judge each line that I have brought to birth.
I think:
shall I succeed to put in words
The silence of my forebears on this earth?

* * *

We all know how to value time when sparse,
And we don’t have superfluous hours to spare.
The rider waits is comrade at the pass
But not because he’s not hasting anywhere.

The passer-by will ease man’s dire distress,
And take the pack which on his weak back lies.
But not because he’s strength in such excess,
And can’t dispose of it howe’er he tries.

Another, not because he is well-fed,
His humble crust will offer to the poor.
And mother, not from insomnia quits her bed,
And rocks the midnight cradle there once more.

Upon the waves, where battle thunder roars,
A nameless youngster, for the sacred goal
Gives up his life, but certainly not because
He’s tired of living on this earthly ball.

We people prize each passing hour, each day,
And strength and bread unneeded don’t exist.
And he who gives to others gives away
Just that which from himself he has to twist.

No one has any extra lives to spare.
No matter how long our lives,
short is our span.
Yet people sacrifice themselves, and dare~
To justify the humane name of man.

The Tender Muse Collection of Verse

Photo by Mikhail Nilov