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Today's
quotation:
Success or failure, the truth of a life really
has little to do with its quality. The quality of life is in
proportion, always, to the capacity for delight. The capacity for delight is the gift of paying attention.
Julia Cameron
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Today's
Meditation:
It's
somehow odd that we don't focus more on our capacity for
delight, our ability to find joy in our day-to-day
lives. When I read Julia's words, I think of a kid
coming away from an amusement park saying that he or she
didn't have any fun. When asked why, the child says,
"Because I was worried about how I'd feel when the
fun was over."
Do
we do this? I know that I do. I've been in
some absolutely delightful situations that I haven't
enjoyed nearly as much as I could have because I've been
thinking about something else, worrying about something
that I had no control over, or simply haven't immersed
myself in the activity or situation. But is the
quality of my life really in proportion to my capacity for
delight? My instinct tells me that it is, that Julia
makes a lot of sense here. My capacity for delight
helps me to appreciate things, helps me to feel more
deeply, helps me to share my joy with others.
Paying
attention to the world around us is a gift, and if we can
feel delight in a sunset, a rainbow, a baby's smile, a
young kid's artwork, time spent with a good friend, then
we've got a lot of life taken care of. If we can
feel delight, then we're guaranteeing that we will
appreciate and pay attention to this beautiful world of
ours. It guarantees that we won't bore ourselves or
take things for granted, and it ensures us that we will
receive the gifts that are offered us. Everyone is
offered the gifts of this world, after all, but it's
relatively few who receive them with open arms and hearts
and delight to have them in their lives.
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