Every day holds something to be thankful for, even if it is just the air that you breathe or the sun on your face. Gratitude does not have to be grand - it is in the little moments that make life beautiful. Embrace those moments, and you will find endless reasons to feel blessed.

The Shining Essence

I look into the mirror and see my own beauty;
I see the truth of the universe revealing itself as me.

I rise in the sky as the morning Sun, do not be surprised,
Every particle of creation is me alone.

What are the holy spirits? my essence revealed.
And the human body? the vessel of my own form.

What is the ocean that encircles the world?
A drop of my abundant Grace;
And the purest light that fills every soul?
A spark of my own illumination.

I am Light itself, reflected in the heart of everyone;
I am the treasure of the Divine Name,
the shining Essence of all things.

I am every light that shines,
Every ray that illumines the world.

From the highest heavens to the bedrock of the earth
All is but a shadow of my splendor.

If I dropped the veil covering my true essence
The world would be gone – lost in a brilliant light.

What is the water that gives eternal life?
A drop of my divine nectar.
And the breath that brings the dead back to life?
A puff of my breath, the breath of all life.

- Fakhruddin Araqi

All that we are is the result of what we have thought.

- The Compassionate Buddha

Krishna:

When you keep thinking about sense objects, attachment comes. Attachment breeds desire, the lust of possession that burns to anger. Anger clouds the judgment; you can no longer learn from past mistakes. Lost is the power to choose between what is wise and what is unwise, and your life is utter waste. But when you move amidst the world of sense, free from attachment and aversion alike, there comes the peace in which all sorrows end, and you live in the wisdom of the Self.

- The Bhagavad Gita | Chapter 2:62-65 (Translation by Eknath Easwaran)

If a country is governed wisely,
its inhabitants will be content.
They enjoy the labor of their hands
and do not waste time inventing
labor-saving machines.
Since they dearly love their homes,
they are not interested in travel.
There may be a few wagons and boats,
but these do not go anywhere.
There may be an arsenal of weapons,
but nobody ever uses them.
People enjoy their food,
take pleasure in being with their families,
spend weekends working in their gardens,
delight in the doings of the neighborhood.
And even though the next country is so close
that people can hear its roosters crowing and its dogs barking,
they are content to die of old age
without ever having gone to see it.

八十 | lxxx

Men are born soft and supple;
dead, they are stiff and hard.
Plants are born tender and pliant;
dead, they are brittle and dry.

Thus whoever is stiff and inflexible
is a disciple of death.
Whoever is soft and yielding
is a disciple of life.

The hard and stiff will be broken.
The soft and supple will prevail.

七十六 | lxxvi

A human being is part of a whole, called by us the "Universe", a part limited in time and space. He experiences himself, his thoughts and feelings as something separated from the rest - a kind of optical delusion of his consciousness. This delusion is a kind of prison for us, restricting us to our personal desires and to affection for a few persons nearest us. Our task must be to free ourselves from this prison by widening our circles of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature in its beauty.
- Albert Einstein

...when we have to pay for the air that we breathe, remember this moment...

...it is all just a story, we believe whatever we choose to believe, usually in a way that is either most meaningful, or least painful, but once new information, in the form of experience, arises, the story naturally changes, and what was once important can become insignificant, what was one insidious can becomes beautiful, what was once obvious can become confusing, what was one forgotten can be remembered, and what was once hidden can lead us to revelations, yet one thing remains consistent & persistent, and "i AM" That...

When a country is in harmony with the Tao,
the factories make trucks and tractors.
When a country goes counter to the Tao,
warheads are stockpiled outside the cities.

There is no greater illusion than fear,
no greater wrong than preparing to defend yourself,
no greater misfortune than having an enemy.

Whoever can see through all fear
will always be safe.

四十六 | xlvi

The world is an illusion, a dream. It only appears to be real to the person who is unaware that it is a dream...
- Alan Watts

If you wish to escape from prison, the first thing you must realise is that you are in prison...
- G. I. Gurdjieff