We view each moment through a lens
as old as all our days.
It’s scratched and blurred and colored
by an historic haze.
It’s tainted by our memories,
our tribe, our expectations.
It’s warped by weather, culture,clan,
regimes, administrations.
Smudged by every place we’ve been
each thing we’ve ever read.
It’s muddied by the mind-stuff that
has built up in our heads.
All of the feelings we’ve ever felt,
The opinions we’ve amassed.
The accumulation of a life time of
experience that has passed.

Each moment carries with it
every moment we’ve lived before.
Nothing that we see-think-feel
is clear-cut, focused, pure.
Before you act, react or verbalize,
take a moment count to ten.
Breathe slowly, deeply, mindfully,
Wipe the lens and start again.

Every single thought inside your head
is a mental modification.
Ask yourself how am I modifying
this particular situation?