Most of us know exactly what sets us off in a difficult confrontation. Without the correct tools at hand, we can very quickly become absorbed in the emotion of the situation. Instead of being the observer of our thoughts, we become tightly integrated with them, acting out whatever we are feeling.

A daily practice of meditation, of thought awareness training, grows our innate ability to be aware of what our mind is doing, and through strengthening our will, it grows our ability to use our mind’s energy to serve us in ways we can’t even imagine.

I asked myself this question: “If I could react any way I wanted in this situation, what would that way be?”

Our mind tends to run around all day long, either visiting circumstances that have already happened or anticipating circumstances that may or may not happen in the future, even if that future is only moments away. It also operates in a constant state of judgment (which of course is a thought), and we experience the emotional content, which is the r

If you don’t know how you would like to react in a situation before you’re in it, it’s a pretty good bet that you won’t be able to figure it out once you’re there.

along the path of mastering parenthood.

When you

What we’re trying to accomplish is to be the observer of what we are experiencing in this moment, to be fully conscious of how it is making us feel, and to know where that feeling is coming from. In

Your mind will create thoughts with or without your permission. It can be your master or your servant. Awareness offers you the opportunity to make that choice.