My Peaceful Day
“Today is going to be my peaceful day.”
Image Credit @chenling
While the United States is filled with turmoil, fear, distrust, chaos, uncertainty, and chronic anxiety, Buddhist monks walk. Approximately 19-24 monks embarked on a 109-day “Walk for Peace” from Fort Worth, Texas, to Washington, D.C., along with their beloved dog, Aloka, a rescue dog, now known worldwide, who captured everyone’s heart with his peaceful, calming demeanor.
Their 2,300-mile journey is a journey to promote unity, compassion, loving-kindness, and peace across America and the world. Their journey hasn’t been easy: early on, two monks were injured by a car that hit the group’s escort vehicle and pushed it into them, resulting in the amputation of one monk’s left leg.
Walking 20-30 miles a day, at times exhausted, encountering freezing winter weather, or facing those who criticize and taunt with no understanding of the nature of the walk, they never lost sight of their purpose: to promote peace.
It’s not a political walk or a walk to convert. It’s a walk to teach us or remind us to practice mindfulness, gratitude, and intentionality, to focus on breath awareness, to forego worrying about the future, to release regrets from the past, to control what we can, to live in the present moment, and to let go of our “lovers” (in this case, our cell phones).
Because I can’t say it better than what’s been said by them, and because it’s relevant to your cancer journey and to all of us who face challenges and stressors, here is a sampling of what they shared:
Begin each day by saying, “Today is going to be my peaceful day.”
Don’t aim for perfection.
Do one thing at a time.
Slow down. Be present.
Breathe. Reflect. Reconnect with the quiet place within. It is there that healing begins.
You cannot control the world, but you can master your response.
Anxiety happens when your mind cannot tolerate the unknown.
Forgiveness is choosing not to carry hatred forward.
Walking together is more powerful than standing alone.
Their journey for peace is also my search and journey for peace. There is much to learn if I’m willing to slow down and listen.
Don’t say that I will depart tomorrow—even today I am still arriving.
Look deeply: every second I am arriving to be a bud on a Spring branch,
to be a tiny bird, with still-fragile wings,
learning to sing in my new nest,
to be a caterpillar in the heart of a flower,
to be a jewel hiding itself in a stone.
I still arrive, in order to laugh and to cry,
to fear and to hope.
~ Thich Nhat Hanh
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