Smile, Breathe and Go Slowly

Thich Nhat Hanh is a Buddist Monk, author and teacher. He said the above words.

I was having a hard time coming up with something uplifting for today. Can't say the weekend was the best, and instead of following my own advice and just letting it go, it's still lingering. I can feel it as a niggling in the back of my head.

So I, as usual, took to the internet to see what I could find to help me feel uplifted so I can write something uplifting.

And the title is what really stuck with me out of all the quotes I read.

Smile - We all know that helps, no matter how you really feel, if you smile something inside of you brightens if only a little. So it stands to reason the more you smile the more brightness you will feel. To add to that from my own personal experience, when you smile and get a smile back, then I feel like that is a double whammy of brightness.

Breathe - I know that if you really thought about it, there are many times that we really do just stop breathing. I know when I get angry and am off spouting on a tangent I do run out of breath because I forget to stop and take in a real breath. So, often throughout the day I recommend just taking a moment and just breath deeply and thoroughly. In through your nose and out through your mouth. 5 or so of those and you can really begin to feel the negativity within yourself being expelled with your breath. I am sorry to say too many of us take breathing for granted. Don't, be conscious of your breath and your breathing. Any relaxation tape or method or leader will tell you it all starts with your breath.

Go Slowly - This I do agree with wholeheartedly. Decisions made in moments of heat or anger or lust or any high voltage feeling are usually not the best ones. Slow down your thinking, slow down your reactions. Proceeding with haste can get your fingers (or something else) burned. If your approach is done slowly and with good thought then things have a better chance of having a good outcome.

So Smile, Breathe and Go Slowly is my advice for the day. Now I just need to practice what I preach.