Getting better at this

Hi Beth,
 I'm getting better with the regimen, slowly by slowly.  It feels less laborious- which is a good thing.  I think I'm finally falling into a rhythm of the discipline of it---three times per day of 15-20 min sessions. I know that this is still pre-season. I return to campus in less than 3 weeks and so I'm not running a victory lap quite yet.  But I do see and feel the benefit of stopping in a formal way during my day (around 10am, 1 and 4pm) and couple those with my morning and evening prayer times. In this way I cultivate a peaceful mind and with it a peaceful life.
  
I guess I must have needed to be reminded of the seriousness of keeping to this discipline.  This past Saturday, William and I were at the beach and a man, whose name, I later found out, was Buddy Magnum, had a massive heart attack. Buddy was sitting with his family just 20 feet in front of us.  I witnessed the entire thing--woman screaming for lifeguard, another man doing CPR, lifeguard doing CPR, EMT trying defibrillator, Fire and Rescue finally taking him to the hospital. Despite these efforts Buddy didn't survive.

  I think about Buddy, now when I start getting lax. Stress is what attacked my heart. Serenity is my medicine against stress.