Brief Report: Contentment, Gratitude, and Mindfulness in the Presence of Parkinson’s

“Contentment is natural wealth.” Socrates

“Gratitude makes sense of our past, brings peace for today, and creates a vision for tomorrow.” Melody Beattie

“Mindfulness is the miracle by which we master and restore ourselves.” Thich Nhat Hanh

Contentment, Gratitude, and Mindfulness: Living with Parkinson’s has brought me a lot; yes, it’s a curse, yes, it peaks his head into my life almost daily, so yes, not backing down to this disorder is all-important. Jalaja Bonheim, said, “Paradoxically, we achieve true wholeness only by embracing our fragility and sometimes, our brokenness.” There are times where I feel whole, and there are frustrating moments where Parkinson’s has broken in and tried taking over. Parkinson’s is like a cold-dark-wind-of-winter that wraps around your body wanting you to shiver, bend and break as might the branches of a small tree collapse and break in a winter snowstorm. It is during this moment of apparent brokenness, I am drawn to a past blog post: Contentment, Gratitude, And Mindfulness.  Re-visiting this blog post clears my mind, warms my heart, and the blizzard-named-Parkinson’s melts away. Life renews. Life reignites. Below are four excerpts from this blog post. I hope they remind you to practice mindfulness, to remain grateful and to be buoyed by contentment.

“We need much less than we think we need.” Maya Angelou

“Joy is the simplest form of gratitude.” Karl Barth

“The little things? The little moments? They aren’t little.” Jon Kabat-Zinn

Cover Photo Credit: https://www.pinterest.com/pin/273312271110351601/?lp=truez

Image Photo Credit:
Beach- pinterest.com/pin/49539664630533379/?lp=true
Desert- fubiz.net/2016/03/25/inspiring-cactus-photographs-and-illustrations-on-fotolia/american-desert/
Grapes- google.com/search?q=seedless+fruit&hl=en&tbm=isch&tbs=rimg
Trail-  google.com/search?hl=en&tbm=isch&q=trail&chips=q:trail