Every now and then go away, have a little relaxation, for when you come back to your work your judgment will be surer. Go some distance away because then the work appears smaller and more of it can be taken in at a glance and a lack of harmony and proportion is more readily seen. --Leonardo Da Vinci

"Participate joyfully in the sorrows of the world. We cannot cure the
world of sorrows, but we can choose to live with joy...Opportunities to
find deeper powers within ourselves come when life seems most
challenging". /- Joseph Campbell
Fabulous quote from Corinna

Gratitude

It seems that we humans are programmed to remember the negative. It is thought that this may be a survival mechanism from the time when had to be on alert for danger at all time.
Your brain preferentially scans for, registers, stores, recalls, and reacts to unpleasant experiences; it's like Velcro for negative experiences and Teflon for positive ones. Negative experiences do have benefits: Loss opens the heart, remorse provides a moral compass and anxiety alerts you to threats. But emotional pain with no benefit to yourself or others is pointless suffering and pain today breeds more pain tomorrow. For instance, according to research by psychiatrist Vladimir Maletic, even a single episode of major depression can reshape circuits of the brain to make future episodes more likely
One way to balance this is by cultivating gratitude.
Here is a gratitude exercise developed by Dr. Srikumar Rao which I particularly like and find very affective.
Recall yesterday. Begin when you woke up in the morning think of something you were genuinely grateful for (it could be the warm bed you were lying in, the fact that you had a bed, that you were alive for another day) whatever you truly feel grateful for. Now close your eyes and really experience that feeling , feel it all through your body if possible. Next move on to your time in the bathroom are you grateful for the warm water or maybe it is the toothpaste that leaves your mouth feeling fresh and wonderful.What about breakfast is there some good coffee to drink? Move through your day like this. Was there anything to be grateful for at your work? Now move to the evening. Did you enjoy your evening meal or maybe it was the drink before bed. Review it all and allow yourself to feel genuinely grateful.
I can guarantee that if you practice this exercise before going to bed you will sleep really well and if you're like me you will wake up in great form.
I have been practicing this exercise for a few weeks and can see how it has made me more conscious of all the good things in my life. Now the feeling of gratitude pops spontaneously into my mind more and more often.

I Am So Glad

           Start seeing everything as God,

                 But keep it a secret.

         Become like a man who is Awestruck

                   And nourished

         Listening to a Golden Nitengale

        Sing in a beautiful foreign language

              While God invisibly nests

                  Upon his tongue.

                      Haviz

        Who can you tell in this world

        That when a dog runs up to you

           Wagging its ecstatic tail,

      You lean down and whisper in its ear,

                     "Beloved

      I am so glad You are happy to see me.

                      Beloved

                  I am so glad,

           So very glad You have come."

On Positive Emptiness

Stories remain in our consciousness, often unnoticed, as points of reference for understanding elements of life.However weird or enigmatic they are, or perhaps because of those very qualities, Zen stories have touched the hearts of people for over a thousand years.
One of the most frequently quoted Zen stories in the West seems to be one about a person who went to see a Zen master with a load of questions and arguments. The master kept pouring tea into a cup for the guest until it started overflowing. To the panicked guest , the master said,"If your mind is already filled like this, how can there be room for you to learn?" This seemingly unrealistic story was introduced in Paul Reps's Zen Flesh Zen Bones. Presenting a certain truth about learning, this story illustrates a paradox - the power of what might be called "positive emptiness".
Kazuaki Tanahashi (in Essential Zen)

       Under the trees, among the rocks, a thatched hut;

       verses and sacred commentaries live there together.

       I'll burn the books I carry in my bag,

       but how can I forget the verses written in my gut?

             -Ikkyu

Attention Preparation Beginning

Introduction, Preparation, Beginning from Yin&Yang on Vimeo.