A middle school in a rough San Francisco neighborhood implemented a modest change in their strategy. The students pause twice a day for fifteen minutes to meditate. 

Suspension rates plummeted. Attendance rose. Fighting decreased. Grades improved. That is a lot of payback for half an hour of silence. 

There was a conference put on by The Greater Good about bringing more compassion to areas of stress, such as law and medical care. One speaker addressed the difference mindfulness can make for healthcare workers on the front lines who frequently experience burn out. He articulated a difference between empathy and compassion. The first can run out, leaving the nurse depleted. But when you can move to being fully present, as in the case of compassion, the reservoir seems to be limitless. One doctor who was becoming numb to the endless needs took a mindfulness course and became more deeply engaged. One of the nurses was alarmed. 

"I saw him holding a patient's hand!" 

Instead of hanging on until retirement he extended his career. 

A teacher once told me that she ended the day with a few minutes of reflection with the children. She led them in a guided meditation, with closed eyes. The improvement in their focus and retention was remarkable. 

Marriage can ask a lot of us. Being understanding about what John has been through when the details of my own hard day are dancing on the tip of my tongue takes restraint. But when I can slow down to the point of being present with him, or my children, or the annoyingly cautious driver ahead of me, I tap into a deeper well.