Each of us is the one who must remain mindful.  Picture the gentle voice droning soothingly in your ear– you are here, you are taking a step, you enjoy the coolness and taste of a ripe strawberry, music plays, your head moves, eyes look.  Take a breath, life itself, draw it in slowly, deeply.  Savor for a moment the life force it sustains.

Watch out for that maniac driving 70 mph on the sidewalk.

Do not be distracted by the look of terror in the doctor’s eyes, genuine alarm, the cuff still around your bicep.  That look was on August 6th.   Medication for high blood pressure indicated, but phone tag didn’t work out and now, two weeks later, the doctor is on vacation.   Kind of him to leave that voice mail yesterday before he left for his canoe trip, his meditation retreat, taking his pregnant wife and their three year-old to Disney World.

Relax the arteries, release the pressure that is building, forget about the ticking time bomb, the silent killer, the stroke sneer (thanks Stephen King).  The world is not a burden unless you make it so.  The world is a miracle and it is a kindness to the self to remember that just because someone like Hitler is most likely to run things, he really believes he’s doing the right thing.  That’s the important thing to keep in mind.  It’s hard making the tough decisions about who shall live and who shall die and who shall eat shit and who shall eat strawberries.   Be grateful you do not have to make such decisions.  Think of the young child’s tenacious commitment to fairness.  Be encouraged, have courage.

Breathe mindfully.