Hi, and welcome to your Daily Mindfulness. Today, I'm going to share with you two simple questions that can help you find strength, purpose, and presence in the midst of difficult times. So when life gets tough, we're often asking ourselves not so helpful questions like, Why is this happening to me? Or, whose fault is this? Or, how could they do this? Now I say these questions are unhelpful because they lead our minds down, passive thinking and emotions that are generally not helping us find inner strength, calm,and wisdom. These kinds of questions can instead bring up a lot of negativity and inhibit our ability to take effective action, learn, and grow. And the thing is, is that the questions we ask ourselves can change what we focus on.

So for instance, we can focus on whose fault it is and end up focusing on blame criticism and negativity, or we can change our focus to something much more empowering, something that helps us rise to the challenges we face with the best of who we are. So there's three questions I really like to ask myself when I'm going through difficult times. Here they are. First question, what can I learn from this? Two, what do I need during this? And three, how can I grow from this? So you might like to think right now about a difficulty in your life, if you care to. And asking yourself this first question, what can I learn from this, if anything? So is there a nugget of wisdom here for you? If not, that's fine too.

Sometimes there's nothing, but sometimes we also just focus on what's wrong. Like I'll never do that again. And you know, we, we have this attitude that can kind of breed cynicism and negativity. But just taking a moment to ponder that. Is there a nugget of wisdom? What can I learn from this, if anything? And two, what do I need during this? You know, what do you need to do to look after yourself? Do you need more support? Do you need more rest? Do you need to be more in nature? What do you need? In the difficult times, that's often a very important question.

And three, how can I grow from this? So from this experience, who would you like to be going forward? Is there anything you'd like to change about your behavior going forward? How can you grow? So rather than buckling under your challenges, when they come, let these questions help you kind of rise up to meet them. That way, each challenge can make you stronger, wiser and more resilient. So when you're facing challenges, friends, just remember, you don't have to just go through it, ask these questions and you can grow through it. Wishing you really well with this practice. And as always, thank you for your practice.

And inviting you now to begin to settle in for today's meditation.