There is one thing I have found very useful when I am afflicted by mental obsessions - craving cookies, what the labs will say, will her plane crash, I hate the government. Negative ideations grounded in fear. They rob me of my peace of mind. Or better stated, it is “I” who rob me of my peace of mind.

Some may have success with a mantra to remind them of their power to choose their thoughts, such as Marcus Aurelius suggests in his Meditations. Sadly, that had never been enough for me, that is, until I read the following story about an exchange with Chao Chou and one of his students.

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I decided to dive into making some goals for 2020. I made myself a cup of hot chocolate and sat by my Christmas tree. As I warmed to the task, I was distracted by the tree’s beauty.

Like so many people, I have many cherished ornaments filling the branches. Each one is a story that fills my heart, connecting me to people I love.

I was enjoying those ornaments when a troubling thought wedged in my mind: their stories die with me! That little crystal ornament, for instance, the one that brings me to tears of joy and pangs of loss will be just a pretty ornament someday. An ornament without a storyteller.

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