Some lucky New Yorkers will be able to see Mark Nepo at the Thrive Global Pop-up Store tonight. 

Dec 15, 2016: Thrive Pop Up Store, What It Means to Thrive, A Publication Reading & Conversation, 7:00-9:00PM, 419 Broome Street, SOHO, New York City

Fortunately for those of us who can’t be there, Mark has shared an excerpt from his reading (see below). 

AND through Thrive Global’s facebook page, we can hear Agapi Stassinopoulos, author of Wake Up to the Joy of You, and her interview with Mark starting at 6:00pm and his entire talk starting at 7:00pm.

So take heart, stay inside, and warm yourself with Mark’s voice and words. 

To Survive and Thrive

Everyone born to this life is challenged to survive and thrive. Yet if we survive without thriving, what’s the point? When preoccupied with survival, we become pragmatists, pessimists, and even nihilists. To stop living in the gears of existence, we are always challenged to let in beauty while we’re suffering, to let in love while we’re struggling. What holds everything together, what releases resilience, and what renews us when we’re struggling is relationship. Relationship is the lifeblood of inner health.

It’s so tempting at times to withdraw and watch life go by, but it’s through relationship that we come alive and heal. There’s no other way but to open the door to our mind, to our heart, and venture out, knowing we will be changed by everything and everyone we meet. Yet try as we do, we seldom come close to what we aim for. I go to love you and miss, hurting your feelings. You aim to protect yourself and push me away, a little too hard. The friend we encourage to be herself finally stands up knocking down everyone near. Still, our heartfelt attempts, awkward as they are, are the seeds that restore the world.

This is why kindness is the antidote to everything. Because, as water soothes fire, kindness calms how we burn for brushing up too close and over-reaching. And under all the ways we burn and cool, there is the soft and lasting presence we were born with, waiting to blossom in the midst of any trouble. Inevitably, we’re required to step out of the house, afraid as we are of all we might meet. Because it is the kindness and wisdom we will encounter beyond our fear that brings us together, that brings us alive.

The truth is that kindness turns fire into light and presence turns misses into surprises. Repeatedly, we are asked to enhance our ability to take risks, in order to heal and grow. And despite the many ways we try and the many ways we miss, we are kind and loving nonetheless.