“I have only three things to teach: simplicity, patience, compassion. These are your greatest treasures.” – Lao Tzu
Simplicity – I love to keep things simple. Why? The reason and one of the most important ones for me is that simplicity reduces the heaviness in life. Take up the “art” of eliminating things, concepts and activities that don’t serve you well or require more maintenance than the benefit they are providing (yes this is more common than you think). Defining simplicity in your life can be daunting which is ironic, but the benefits of giving this energy are immeasurable.
Patience – Patience doesn’t mean passivity or resignation, but power. It’s an emotionally freeing practice of waiting, watching, and knowing when to act. I’m defining patience as an active state, a choice to hold tight until intuition says, “make your move.” It means waiting your turn, knowing it will come. Once you’ve gone all out toward a goal, it entails trusting the flow, knowing when to let flow take its course. Patience works hand in hand with intuition. Intuition intelligently informs patience. It conveys when to have it and if something is worth working on or waiting for. So tend to your patience and utilize your intution as you weigh your next steps.
Compassion – Compassion should be taught and treated as a health indicator. Why? Compassion improves your health by strengthening your immune system, normalizing your blood pressure, lowering your stress and depression, improving your physical recovery from illness, and even extending your life. On the mental level compassion enables you to understand yourself and others more as you seek to relieve suffering not only in yourself but within others as well.
Working on these three aspects of your daily life is the very reason for presence, the reason for growth and ultimately a greater sense of happiness not only for ourselves but others.
Peace and Love, Jim
