We know how to sacrifice ten years for a diploma, and we are willing to work very hard to get a job, a car, a house and so on. But we have difficulty remembering that we are alive in the present moment-- the only moment there is for us to be alive. Every breath we take, every step we make, can be filled with peace, joy and serenity. We need only to be awake; alive in the present moment. -Thich Nhat Hanh

I welcome joy as my spiritual companion.

I invite joy to bless my life. I welcome joy to my heart. Asceticism, hardship, grandiosity-- these are enemies, not the handmaidens of spiritual growth. Gentleness, opening attention-- these are the gardening tools which best encourage growth. In every moment I can choose between will and willingness, between determination and fructification. As I allow myself to be rendered gently fruitful, I become fluid from moment to moment. The harshness of my experience slips away. Spirituality requires vulnerability and openness. As I still myself rather than steel myself, I hear evermore clearly the quiet promptings of inner growth. As I follow the lead which joy sets in my life, I am gently, safely and surely led.