Here we are on the morn of the sixth year  I have co-ordinated the Baked Goods table at our parish community Christmas Bazaar.

Me, Ms. Health Nut at the Baked Goods table.  lol.  Yep. I love the chance to flex my self control muscle.

I want to share in it’s entirety a chapter in my latest read “Peace Is Everywhere”by Thich Nhat Hanh.   This book on everyday mindfulness really “speaks” to me.  I hope this story calms you and brings a fond smile of childhood to your face.  For we know what a smile can do…….

“Cookie of Childhood      

When I was four years old, my mother used to bring me a cookie every time she came home from the market.  I always went to the front yard and took my time eating it, sometimes half an hour or forty-five minutes for one cookie.  I would take a small bite and look up at the sky.  Then I would touch the dog with my feet and take another small bit.  I just enjoyed being there, with the sky, the earth, the bamboo thickets, the cat, the dog, the flowers.  I was able to do that because I did not have much to worry about.  I did not think of the future, I did not regret the past.  I was entirely in the present moment, with my cookie, the dog, the bamboo thickets. the cat, and everything.

It is possible to eat our meals as slowly and joyfully as I ate the cookie of my childhood.  Maybe you have the impression that you have lost the cookie of your childhood, but I am sure it is still there, somewhere in your heart.  Everything is still there, and if you really want it, you can find it.    Eating mindfully is a most important practice of meditation.  We can eat in a way that we store the cookie of our childhood.  the present moment is filled with joy and happiness.  If you are attentive, you will see it. “