5 Simple Prayers to Have, Hold, and Cherish

1. I have and hold the hope of being able to know I am walking into the kitchen, or down a country road, awake and present to myself enough to not just be aware of thoughts and feelings calling for my attention, but the temptation to identify with them, and become a captive of imagination.

2. I have and hold the wish to be able to remain present to what is, and to allow what is being revealed within me to be a guide and counsel that leads to whatever action that awareness deems as needful, or necessary.

3. I have and hold the wish to never again be the source of suffering for anyone in any relationship into which I enter, and that should I fail, to have the awareness needed in that moment to realize the pain born out of my forgetfulness, and to take full responsibility for it.

4. I have and hold the quiet hope of being able to help those in a time of need, and to be able to suffer -- with patience -- what I must to put the need of others before my own.

5. I have and hold the quiet hope of becoming what I am given to see, and to be, in each moment.