If we know how to be content, we can relax our endless striving and welcome serenity.
If we know how to be content, we can enjoy the time we have with the person next to us.
If we know how to be content, we can make peace with our past and let go of our baggage.

If you’ve been unable to change a bad situation, even after many attempts, you should change how you look at the situation. Nothing is intrinsically good or bad. Good or bad is always relative. Compare your situation with someone’s that is worse. Now yours does not seem so bad after all. When you are stressed out, be aware of your stress. When you are irritated, be aware of your irritation. When you are angry, be aware of your anger. As soon as you become aware of these feelings you are no longer lost in them. Your awareness allows you to witness them from the outside. Awareness is inherently pure, like the open sky. Stress, irritation, and anger can temporarily cloud the sky, but they can never pollute it.

Negative emotions come and go like clouds, but the wide-open sky remains. Like toxins slowly filling our bodies, if anger, despair, or sorrow accumulate in our hearts, we have to do something about it.
Exercise, talk to your mentor, meditate on loving-kindness. As we begin to make the effort, the toxins start to lose their grip.

Excerpt From: Haemin Sunim. “The Things You Can See Only When You Slow Down: How to Be Calm and Mindful in a Fast-Paced World”.