Wandering Along the Path: Right Speech

I just listened to a dharma talk by my teacher Anam Thubten, about having the intention to rewire our consciousness by pausing in our thoughts to be aware of deeper issues we wish to work on. As I told my granddaughter a couple of days ago, I have my Buddhist vows to challenge me and work on, and they will take up the rest of my life. This blog is about right speech, but all the eight vows bear attention. When I am ready to sleep at night, I first write in my gratitude journal, then pray. I'm not asking some deity for help, and am focusing my mind on the people I love, paying respect to their needs, feeling compassion for them, and in some cases expressing my fears openly. My mind thus is on the things that count, not the rest of the white noise in our lives. I sleep really well, and seldom have dreams that our memorable or disturbing. When I do, I welcome them as a way my mind is working on my deepest fears and losses. Intention takes us beyond thoughtless habits, and refocuses us on what matters. I do this pausing many times a day, and feel a surge of energy when I do. It's like screwing my head on straight again. It needs to be done a great deal in my case.