Don't ignore the very things that lie within your grasp. We don't value them. We even curse them. Consider your eyes. How can we take some thing as wonderful as our eyes for granted? Yet we do. We don't look deeply at these wonders. We ignore them, and, as a result, we lose them. It's as though our eyes don't exist. Only when we are struck blind do we realize how precious our eyes were, and then it's too late. A blind person who regains her sight understands the preciousness of her eyes. She has the capacity to live happily right here on earth. The world of form and color is a miracle that offers blissful joys every day. After we have this realization, we cannot look at the blue sky and the white clouds without smiling. The world constantly reveals its freshness and splendor. A blind person who regains her sight knows that paradise is right here, but before long she too will start to take it for granted again.

— Thich Nhat Hanh in Fragrant Palm Leaves - Journals 1962-1966

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