Just Pay Appropriate Attention

Here is another quote from Matthew Kelly, this time from his book, Perfectly Yourself: 9 Lessons for Enduring Happiness. He is teaching us to just pay appropriate attention. He calls it “just do the next right thing.”

Appropriate attention is an important Buddhist concept that came down to us as yoniso manasikara. It implies paying wise and mindful attention to what is going on right now in the present moment. We are encouraged to apply skillful means to everything that we do, not just during our meditation practice.

“Whether you are struggling to overcome a pattern of defeat, yearning for inner peace, trying to create lasting happiness, wishing to succeed in  your career, desperately trying to overcome procrastination, or are battling with an addiction, this lesson holds the key for you. Just do the next right thing. In each moment, just keep doing the next right thing. . .

Whether you get into a funk, just do the next right thing. And keep doing the next right thing. You will be amazed at how quickly you work yourself out of the funk if you approach it this way. Don’t worry about next week or next month or next year. Just do the next right thing and keep doing the next right thing, and gradually you will act your way out of destructive patterns. You cannot think or pray or wish or hope yourself out of the pattern that is holding you back. You must act your way out of it, one moment at a time.

One moment at a time, by simply doing the next right thing, you will move from confusion to clarity, from misunderstanding to insight, from despair to hope, from darkness to light, and discover your truest self.”
~ Matthew Kelly from Perfectly Yourself: 9 Lessons for Enduring Happiness

To just pay appropriate is what we do in our daily meditation practice. When our minds stray from the object of meditation – probably the in breath and the out breath, a mantra, loving kindness blessings, gratitude practice – we mindfully bring it back, just like that.

What did you learn from this lesson? Have you heard about appropriate attention before? Please share.

Books by Matthew Kelly

Perfectly Yourself: 9 Lessons for Enduring Happiness by Matthew Kelly “Just be yourself!” People say it all the time, but how do we actually live it? For more than a decade Matthew Kelly has been helping people discover the best version of themselves. Now, in Perfectly Yourself, he addresses the opportunities and obstacles that we encounter once we decide t… [Read More…]