Learn how to see. Realize that everything connects to everything else.

Leonardo da Vinci

I have noticed that when I see myself as separate from the world around me, I lose my serenity. When I am feeling sad or angry, I am separating myself from what I perceive as “good” and believe I will not receive that to which I feel entitled. When I am feeling critical or anxious, I am separating myself from what I perceive as “bad” and try to fix the situation. Either way, I behave as though I am alone in the world. At times like this, I lose my serenity. In order to regain my serenity, I lovingly accept the world around me and take my place in it, rather than judge my surroundings as “good” or “bad”. When I do this, I no longer feel victimized by or responsible for all that goes on around me. Instead, I feel peace.

A meditation for December 13, 2012.