We often live in a kind of mental fog, a narrowing of the scope of our concerns, until we can see only the most pressing matters, the small confines of our immediate experience. The universe around us beckons, but we struggle to see and hear it through the glare and noise of civilization. We must work to keep our eyes and ears open, to see beyond the glare and hear beyond the noise.

Try this meditation for one minute today, or longer if you wish:

STOP, take a breath, and be thankful for all you have, the things that are going well in your life. Be completely unguarded with your heart, if just for a few moments.

Consider our difficulties in the context of the unimaginable scale of the
Creation. There is the Milky Way with its 300,000 million stars … Consider, too, the wonder of nature: the 229 separate and distinct muscles in the head of a caterpillar. This world in which we find ourselves is an unimaginable mystery, to which we can only respond with awe and a sense of worshipful attention.
—John Lane, artist and writer

How did this meditation go for you? Share your experience with your fellow North Shore Bank employees at shorelines@northshorebank.com and you’ll be entered to win a copy of Mindfulness in Plain English, by Bhante Gunaratana.

If you’d like a daily email reminder to practice one minute of mindfulness, email us with the subject “Mindfulness reminder.”