BOOK EXTRACT: Peace In Every Step

Peace Is Every Step: The Path of Mindfulness in Everyday Life Thich Nhat Hanh

Hope is important, because it can make the present moment less difficult to bear. If we believe that tomorrow will be better, we can bear a hardship today. But that is the most that hope can do for us - to make some hardship lighter.

When I think deeply about the nature of hope, I see something tragic. Since we cling to our h

ope in the future, we do not focus our energies and capabilities on the present moment. We use hope to believe something better will happen in the future, that we will arrive at peace, or the Kingdom of God. Hope becomes a kind of obstacle.

If you can refrain from hoping, you can bring yourself entirely into the present moment and discover the joy that is already there.