When people ask me what I do in life I give them my "fifteen-second elevator speech".

It was something I learned when I was running my own business.

In marketing any product you need a catchy phrase that tells a prospective customer what you do and to try to peek their interest.

It has to be short and to the point, something that you could use if you were between floors in an elevator!

My presentation on the practice of mindfulness would be something like this: "Do you know how some people get stuck in their lives thinking about their past, or fantasizing about their future? Well, what I do is teach the practice of mindfulness to help them have more peace and joy in their lives. Would that be of any interest to you?"

To live a life of mindfulness we need certain internal rules that we can choose to follow and the five mindfulness trainings are the keys to mindful living.

I have been writing about the first mindfulness training for the past few weeks.

It is about the reverence for life.

"Aware of the suffering caused by the destruction of life, I am committed to cultivating compassion and learning ways to protect lives of people animals plants and minerals. I am determined not to kill, not to let others kill, and not to support any act of killing in the world, in my thinking and in my ways of life."

By only following this first training, we actually find we are following all of the trainings.

Life is so precious, yet in our daily lives we are so often carried away by our forgetfulness, our worries, our anger, either lost in the past or fantasising about what may happen in the future.

However, when we become really alive awakened to the precious present, everything we do or touch is a miracle.

And miracles do happen.

I would like to share with you two stories in my own life of recent Bermuda miracles.

Our phones had been affected by the October storm that hit Bermuda so hard.

Shortly after the storm our telephone line became so bad that we could not even hear ourselves think while on the phone, yet alone hear those who were calling us!

I called the telephone company and was told by customer service that someone would be by to fix the problem in five to seven working days.

Wonderful I thought!

We actually went off-Island for a short vacation during this time and our friend who was house-sitting reported that while we were away she did not hear a word from the telephone company.

I was very upset and so I called again, only to be told by the customer service representative that there was no record of my request made nearly two weeks earlier!

I was so angry and upset, because I felt I was being accused of not telling the truth.

My initial reaction was to yell and scream; however I went back to my mindfulness practice and breathed and did a walking meditation.

When I had calmed down I wrote a letter to the company stating how I felt.

I went back to the teaching of the first mindfulness training :"Aware of the suffering ....I am determined not to kill .....in my thinking and in my ways of life."

Just coming back to the present moment and truly expressing my feelings and not blaming felt so wonderful.

My anger just melted.

The person who received my letter read it mindfully and understood.

It also worked a miracle!

The Bermuda Telephone Company right from the Queen bee to the worker bees called or visited us every day for the next four days and by the end of the week a new line had been installed and we were no longer suffering.

I was so grateful for the first mindfulness training and that I had put it into action.

Living mindfully is not only about thinking, it is about action, or doing, or putting the teachings into practice.

My second miracle story is with my bank here in Bermuda.

I wanted to deposit a cheque made out in US dollars by a Canadian banking institution into my account.

Because it was over a certain dollar value I was told that I had to wait for five days for it to clear.

I was very upset and angry, as I had certain bills to honour immediately and because of this rule this would not allow me to keep my commitments.

Again I went back to the practice of mindfulness, breathed deeply and wrote to the bank to explain my dilemma.

I took the letter directly into the bank at mid-day and within a couple of hours a miracle had happened.

The money appeared in my account!

I had used mindful breathing, deep looking and understanding of my own anger, mindful speech in my correspondence, only stating how I felt and not blaming anyone.

And I had been listened to mindfully by the bank.

And a miracle had happened!

When we are truly alive to the present moment everything we do or touch is a miracle.

Practicing mindfulness is to return to life in the present moment.

The practice of the first mindfulness training is actually a celebration of the reverence for life.

When we do everything in our power to protect ourselves, and all of life, miracles do happen.

I would like to leave you with a small Christmas gift of a poem, or gatha, written by one of my teachers, Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh.

It is written about impermanence.

"The day is ending and our life is one day shorter.

Let us look carefully at what we have done.

Let us practice diligently, putting our whole heart into the practice of mindfulness.

Let us live deeply each moment and in freedom, so the time doesn't slip away meaninglessly."

As Tiny Tim in Scrooge said: "God bless you all and a Merry Christmas to each and everyone."

That is what I wish each and every one of my readers this week: "A Merry Mindful Christmas and thank you all so very much for your loving support and encouragement."

The Mindfulness Practice Community of Bermuda welcomes inquiries from all those who wish to know more about a nonsecular way of living mindfully.

Living mindfully can help us engage in deeper understanding of our own religious roots.

Please call 236-4988 or e-mail us at iamhomeibl.bm.