Week 1.1 (January 1-7) New Year

A Pinch of Salt

Once upon a time, there was a young monk who was struggling to break his bad habits. They seemed so overwhelming and insurmountable. He went to his teacher and asked for advice. The teacher gave him a small bag of salt and told him to put a pinch of salt in a tea cup of water and drink it. The young monk did as he was told and found the water to be very bitter. He spit it out and said, “there is no way I could drink all that.!”

The teacher then told him to take another pinch of salt and throw it into a nearby lake. The young monk did as he was told and went back to the teacher. The teacher then asked him to drink from the lake. The young monk drank the water and found it to be fresh and sweet.

The teacher then explained… the amount of salt in the cup of water was the same as the amount of salt he had thrown into the lake. The difference was that the lake was much larger than the glass of water and could easily absorb the salt.

The teacher then told the young monk that his mind was like the cup of water and that his bad habits were like the salt. Your mind could be a small cup of water or an enormous lake. If he focused only on his bad habits, they would seem overwhelming and bitter. But if he focused on the bigger picture, like the lake, he would see that his bad habits were just a small part of his life. The young monk understood the lesson and was able to break his bad habits and create healthy ones.

Difference from habit and a routine. Making healthy routines into habits

• habit is an impulse to do a behavior with little or no conscious thought. Not doing a habit feels uncomfortable, like not washing your hands after using the toilet or not flossing your teeth before bed.
• A routine is a behavior frequently repeated. Unlike a habit, skipping a routine doesn’t feel bad and without proper forethought, can be easily skipped or forgotten.

You often hear that it only takes 30-days to break a bad habit. According to a 2009 study published in the European Journal of Social Psychology(opens in new tab), habit formation may take anywhere between 18 and 254 days. The average amount of time needed for a behavior to become automatic is 66 days, the researchers found.

Habit formation can also be made more successful by celebrating little milestones along the way and rewarding yourself with a gift linked to the new habit.

You are never too old to reinvent yourself. Every day is a fresh start for you. That every sunrise is a new chapter in your life waiting to be written.

Your present circumstances don’t determine where you can go. They merely determine where you start.

“If you don’t like something, change it. If you can’t change it, change your attitude.” Maya Angelo

“Think continually about what you want, not about the things you fear.” – Brian Tracy

“Move out of your comfort zone. You can only grow if you are willing to feel awkward and uncomfortable when you try something new.”- Brian Tracy

“It always seems impossible until it’s done.” – Nelson Mandela

“Stop knocking on that old door that doesn’t open for you. Instead realize that the door to a higher state of consciousness opens inward. create your own door, walk through and create your destiny with your attitude. Always remember to keep some space in your heart for the impossible.” -David Scott

Believe in yourself and all that you are. Know that there is something inside you that is greater than any obstacle—Christian D. Larson

It is our attitude at the beginning of a difficult task which, more than anything else, will affect its successful outcome—William James

Be more concerned with your character than your reputation, because your character is what you really are, while your reputation is merely what others think you are—John Wooden

What you do today can change all the tomorrow’s of your life—Zig Ziglar

Sorrow looks back, worry looks around, faith looks up, mindfulness looks within.

“Keep your face always toward the sunshine, and shadows will fall behind you.” – Walt Whitman

“Keep some room in your heart for the unimaginable.” —Mary Oliver

“Your body is listening to everything your mind is saying.”

“To successfully open the door to heightened awareness, we must open it inward.” ~Wayne Dyer

Breath is the bridge which connects life to consciousness, which unites your body to your thoughts.” – Thich Nhat Hanh

The powers of the mind are like the rays of the sun when they are concentrated they illumine. – Swami Vivekananda

“Happiness is when what you think, what you say, and what you do are in harmony.” Mahatma Gandhi

“Now is the future that you promised yourself last year, last month, last week. Now is the only moment you’ll ever really have. Mindfulness is about waking up to this.”- Mark Williams

“When you witness someone in life, doing something better than you, instead of thinking of that person as competition, think of that person as inspiration. “A flower does not think of competing to the flower next to it. It just blooms.” – David Scott

New Year & Change

“If you’re brave enough to say goodbye, life will reward you with a new hello.” – Paulo Coehlo

“Cheers to a new year and another chance for us to get it right.” – Oprah Winfrey

“The road ahead is not some predetermined path that I am forced to trod, but it is a rich byway that I can help create.” – Craig D. Lounsbrough

“Write it on your heart that every day is the best day in the year.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson

”We will open the book. Its pages are blank. We are going to put words on them ourselves. The book is called Opportunity and its first chapter is New Year’s Day.” – Edith Lovejoy Pierce

”The beginning is the most important part of the work.” – Plato

”Be always at war with your vices, at peace with your neighbors, and let each new year find you a better man.” – Benjamin Franklin

“In order to change, we must be sick and tired of being sick and tired.”

Self Acceptance

Be who you are and say what you feel, because those who mind don’t matter and those who matter don’t mind. – Dr. Seuss

Accept no one’s definition of your life; define yourself. – Harvey Fierstein

No one can make you feel inferior without your consent. – Eleanor Roosevelt

One day your life will flash before your eyes. Make sure it’s worth watching. – Gerard Way

Never regret a day in your life. Good days give you happiness and bad days give you experience. Everything that you are going through is preparing you for what you’ve asked for.

Believe you can and you’re halfway there. —T. Roosevelt

It will never matter what others think of you. It will ALWAYS matter what YOU think of you. – Fearless Soul

People who are crazy enough to think they can change the world, are the ones who do. – Steve Jobs

We generate fears while we sit. We overcome them by action. – Dr. Henry Link

“Ever feel like life is a test I didn’t study for.”

Final Quote

“A teacher is never a giver of truth; he is a guide, a pointer to the truth that each student must find for himself. I hope you listen to this teaching of truth within you this class.”

When you are evolving to your higher self, the road is long and lonesome, but you’re simply shedding energies that no longer match the frequency of your destiny. The hardest walk is walking alone, but it’s also the walk that makes you the strongest.”

“Not everyone you lose in life is a loss. Sometimes in order to find peace, you have to let go of the connection with the people, places, and things that create drama in your life but do not make you stronger.”