Hi, and welcome to your Daily Mindfulness.

Today, I'm going to talk about

the idea of being a blessing.

There's an old story on this topic.

One morning, a man was

walking along the beach.

They'd been a huge storm the night before,

and he saw that thousands of starfish

had been washed up onto the beach.

As he walked on, he saw a young boy

picking up and gently throwing the

starfish back into the ocean, one by one.

Approaching the boy, he said,

"Young man, what are you doing?"

"Well, I'm throwing starfish

back into the ocean.

If I don't throw them back,

they'll die," the boy replied.

Well, the man laughed to himself

and said, "You do realize that

there's miles and miles and miles

of beach and thousands of starfish.

You can't make any difference."

After listening politely, the

boy bent down, picked up another

starfish and threw it into the ocean.

And then he smiled at the man and said,

"I made a difference to that one."

Sometimes we forget the fact that we

actually have a lot of power to make

a difference to the world around us.

Even if that difference affects

only one person or creates good in

some small way, it still matters.

It matters not only how we affect the

world around us, but as we act as a

force for good, it affects our own mental

state and everybody around us as well.

When we go about our lives looking for

how we can be a blessing to others in

the world, we fill our own body and mind

with states of goodwill, friendliness,

compassion, appreciation, and love.

We can be a blessing in so many small

and big ways throughout the day.

By giving a word of encouragement to

someone or a listening ear, by showing

gratitude, compassion, patience.

They can take the form of giving a

compliment instead of a criticism, an

inclusion, rather than a rejection.

We can bless others by really

listening to them deeply, making

time for them, accepting them

just the way they are, instead of

telling them they should change.

By honoring all life as well, we might

become a blessing in the way of just

simply putting the recycling out,

reducing our consumption, throwing

a dying starfish back into the ocean

or some other little creature, you

know, making it to be safe and happy.

It's a general attitude of just

helping rather than harming, generosity

rather than greed, understanding and

benevolence and openheartedness rather

than defensiveness, judgment or ill will.

You can also be a blessing to

yourself, treating yourself with

compassion, acceptance, and kindness.

There are so many opportunities

to make a difference and to be a

blessing to ourselves and others.

As Jane Goodall once said, "What

you do does make a difference.

It's up to you each day to decide what

kind of difference you'd like to make."

So that's the invitation for

practice today to be a blessing.

Wishing you well with this.

And as always thank you for your

practice and your presence here with us.

Let's settle in now

for today's meditation.