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141 " This is the key: Your friend felt joy at being part of the gathering that you put together, and the effort they took to compose that thank-you note brought joy back to you. For each of you, gratitude comes from realizing that someone else is invested in you. It’s a feedback loop of love. "
― Jay Shetty , Think Like a Monk: Train Your Mind for Peace and Purpose Every Day
142 " Whatever action is performed by a great man, common men follow in his footsteps, and whatever standards he sets by exemplary acts, all the world pursues. "
143 " Reflecting on the knowledge that we will die someday compels us to value the time we have and to spend our energy thoughtfully. Life’s too short to live without purpose, to lose our chance to serve, to let our dreams and aspirations die with us. Above all, I ask you to leave people and places better and happier than you found them. "
144 " gamma waves—those associated with attention, memory, learning, and happiness "
145 " Appreciate everything, even the ordinary. Especially the ordinary. "
146 " The researchers concluded that talking to yourself not only boosts your memory, it also helps you focus. "
147 " Thankfulness. Express gratitude to someone, some place, or something every day. This includes thinking it, writing it, and sharing it. (See Chapter Nine.) Insight. Gain insight through reading the paper or a book, or listening to a podcast. Meditation. Spend fifteen minutes alone, breathing, visualizing or with sound. (More about sound meditation at the end of Part 3.) Exercise. We monks did yoga, but you can do some basic stretches or a workout. Thankfulness. Insight. Meditation. Exercise. T.I.M.E. A new way to put time into your morning. "
148 " helps you clarify your thoughts, tend to what’s important and firm up any decisions you’re contemplating. "
149 " our values are influenced by whatever absorbs our minds. "
150 " What’s on your news feed is feeding your mind. "
151 " A layperson who is consciously aiming to be continuously alive in the Now is a monk. "
152 " Often all that holds us back from achieving the impossible is the belief that it is impossible. "
153 " I can use my awareness of my fear as a tool to help me make decisions that are truly in line with my values and purpose. "
154 " Letting go gives us freedom, and freedom is the only condition for happiness. If, in our heart, we still cling to anything—anger, anxiety, or possessions—we cannot be free.” I encourage you to purge or avoid physical triggers of negative thoughts and feelings, like that sweatshirt your ex gave you or the coffee shop where you always run into a former friend. If you don’t let go physically, you won’t let go emotionally "
155 " People complain about their poor memories, but I’ve heard it said that we don’t have a retention problem, we have an attention problem. By searching for the new, you are reminding your brain to pay attention and rewiring it to recognize that there’s something to learn in everything. Life isn’t as certain as we assume. "
156 " Tracking my fear of exam results and the other “branch” fears that appeared led me to the root: fearing I couldn’t make my parents happy "
157 " we have four different emotional reactions to fear: We panic, we freeze, we run away, or we bury it, as I had buried my anxiety about my parents. The first two are shorter-term strategies, while the second two are longer-term, but all of them distract us from the situation and prevent us from using our fear productively. "
158 " Biosphere lacked a key element necessary to the trees’ health: wind "
159 " When someone hurts you, it’s because they’re hurt. Their hurt is simply spilling over. They need help. "
160 " No matter how much we grow, we are never free of daily chores and routines, but to be enlightened is to embrace them. The outside may look the same, but inside you are transformed. "