Waking up this morning I smile,

Twenty-four brand new hours are before me.

I vow to live fully in each moment

And to look at all beings with eyes of compassion.

Origin:

Composed by the Buddhist teacher, activist, and author Thich Nhat Hanh. Originally from Vietnam, in 1982 he founded the International Buddhist Practice Center, called Plum Village, in France.

Options:

• Keep this vow on the mirror of your medicine cabinet or the door of the refrigerator so you will be reminded to repeat it before leaving the house each day.

• Keep a copy of this prayer taped to the sun visor of your car to use as a "devotion in motion" when you begin your morning or evening commute.

• Use the italicized passages as a moving mantra to say) throughout the day, or use for a seated meditation whenever you have ten free minutes.

— Frances Sheridan Goulart, Thich Nhat Hanh in God Has No Religion: Blending Traditions for Prayer by Frances Sheridan Goulart