A Mindful Way

There is a book I studied entitled “A Mindful Way” Eight Weeks to Happiness.  It is written by Jeanie Seward-Magee, with a foreward by Thich Nhat Hanh,  a Zen Master.  It is a practical guidebook that offers a path toward self-realization and spiritual growth.  It teaches that mindfulness is the foundation of a happy and fulfilling life.  This book has made such an impact on me that I hope others will seek it out. 

One night a week for eight weeks myself and four friends would meet to read chapters aloud from the book, discuss what we had read and during the week do our homework answering questions regarding the chapter that had been studied that week.  One of the big lessons for me from reading this book is to live in a state of gratefulness.  I kept a grateful journal and every evening I wrote 5 things I was grateful for that day.  It can be the simplest of things, a comfortable place to live, a phone call from a friend, food in the fridge, a car to drive; all of the things we tend to take for granted.  I learned to live in the moment and enjoy the moment I am in without looking back with regret or anxiously look into the future.

 

“Being mindfully grateful is a way of allowing our life to flow, rather than letting events get in the way and cause us much grief and unhappiness”

Jeanie Seward-Magee

 

Each chapter had a segment called Mindful Memoirs concerning various decades of one’s life depending the age of the reader ending in questions regarding that period of time.

The questions prompted me to recall my past regressing as far back as age 4 when I still lived in Holland and from those questions and answers I felt compelled to write my memoirs and once I started I couldn’t stop as memories flooded into my consciousness.  I finally stopped writing at thirteen pages (single-spaced) but was reluctant to print them out; every time I edit or revise what I’ve already done so far I want to add more stories.  I intend on presenting my memoirs to each of my four granddaughters but fear they may lose interest if I make it too lengthy.  Slowly I have added another page but I just can’t seem to completely bring my memoirs to a close.

I have written regarding the two chapters that impacted me the most.  The other 6 chapters are also well worth studying.