Quieting our minds takes steady work — we must constantly disentangle them from the troubles and pleasures of life. We get stuck on things and must force ourselves to move on. We have to keep working at it, regardless of how tired we are. Is it worth it? It sometimes seems easier to live in constant distraction.

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

PUT EVERYTHING DOWN and pay attention. Can you catch a glimpse of the moon? Notice the streetlights, the sounds, the smells. These little things keep us grounded, root us to our places, to our lives.

The one priority I have…is to keep it simple. To keep it as perfectly bare and simple as possible. And get it down. —Townes Van Zandt, American singer-songwriter

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.”