Shoes

Today's Bingo: Shoes. "Dad?" "Yes, son," the man said to his six year old. "Have you ever walked in my shoes?" "They're a little small." "Can I walk in your shoes?" "I hope you'll always be willing."

Waves

Today's Bingo: Waves. Life is waves and their opposite. On the surface of the water, violent crashing or perfect calm. It's always changing, chaotic, and unpredictable. But below, in the deep ocean, even as the storm rumbles above, it's still. Your world is like the surface--always changing. You can get crushed and tumbled by the tumult (or lulled into thinking everything will always be okay by the calm); or, go deep. In you, in deep places, is perfect quiet. Choose to go there and the changes pass and you are always well.

Pumpkins

Today's Bingo: Pumpkins. In piles on carts, in the fields in rows, at the grocery for sale, and on hay in a bale. Painted and carved and made into pies; I like the pumpkins with funny looking eyes. Jack-o-lanterns with candles that brighten the night; the orange pumpkin is fall's opus to life.

Morning Moon

Today's Bingo: Morning Moon. "Mama, what's that?" Asked the little boy as he and his mother walked the beach one morning. "You know what that is." His mother replied. "But Mr. Moon doesn't come out in the morning. He is a night moon." The child said indignantly. "Honey," the Mother said, "He's been up all night." The child thought for a second, then said earnestly. "He is going to be a sleepy moon today."

Pure

Today's Bingo: Pure. Your mind is like a pond. It takes in everything. You choose what stays. Let the waste hang around and pretty soon you're soiled. Fill your mind with blue sky, smiles, and memories of mom's best meal: you feel pure.

Perspective

Today's Bingo: Perspective. Which way are you looking? Up or down? How wide? How close? Turns out that the way you look at something is as important as the experience itself.

Busy

Today's Bingo: Busy. Busy is the new "I'm fine." Someone asks you how you're doing, and the reflex response is about the pace of life. No problem: If it's on purpose. Busy implies a lot. Busy implies a fast pace. Again, no problem: If you love it. Make busy doing important things: Your soul sores. Too much of what you think you have to do: A sour soul.

Dive

Today's Bingo: Dive. Sometimes, when you take a risk, it doesn't go well. Your parachute doesn't open the way it's supposed to. But you are smart. You have trained for this. You know not only how to handle crisis; you know how to enjoy life even when it gets difficult. When everyone else would panic, you savor the good all around you. You choose to live the graceful life.

Delicious

Today's Bingo: Delicious. The apple tree had grown on the hill for over 200 years. Johnny planted it on his walk half way across America. Its fruit is still sweet and delicious. The only question people ask when they see the ancient tree: How will we enjoy its bounty this year?

Crazy

Today's Bingo: Crazy. "Are you crazy?" The little girl asked her grandpa after he made a funny face. "No," he said. "I'm crazy about you!"

Drink

Today's Bingo: Drink. Drink like an Eskimo. Their tradition: Euphoria from spirits offers access to another dimension; but drink too much, and you access the demons. Whatever your favorite beverage--coffee, sweet lemonade, or adult libation--there is a right amount that creates balance.

Smoke

Today's Bingo: Smoke. Campfires, Grampa's pipe, and Dad's secret recipe bbq. Harvey Keitel movie on the weight of a soul. The stuff that comes from between your ears when you think too much. On this labor day, give your mind the day off.

Summer Break

Today's Bingo: Summer Break. I hope you've enjoyed bingo. We've had thousands of readers and we'll start up again the first week of September. 126 Bingos are there to explore. Love to hear your favorites in the comments section.

Less

Today's Bingo: Less. What can you remove from your life right now that will take away the stress, reduce the cortisol from your system (that's the hormone from stress that screw's your hole system up), and allow you to see what's beautiful, all around you?

Greatest Hits: Grumpy

Today's Bingo: Grumpy. Rams locking horns. Children screaming at their mothers. Husbands and wives pouting like Grumpy dwarf. Get involved with grumpy and you'll be grumpy too. Step back and watch: grumpy can be about the cutest thing you'll ever see.

Blue

Today's Bingo: Blue. Go to the porch. Sit on the stoop, a rocking chair, a porch swing, or just plop yourself down. Close your eyes and take a few deep breathes. Remember you are precious and entirely worth loving. Now look up at the blue sky. No problem cannot be absorbed by its vast color and brightness. No moment is better than pausing and looking up.

Believe

Today's Bingo: Believe. "Isn't hope foolish?" Asked the student. "Yes," said the master. "Why do you say so?" "Hope is empty without action," replied the student. "Yes, said the master. "So what state of mind produces serenity in each moment?" "Belief?" Asked the student. "Especially," said the master, "When what you believe contributes to the well-being of everything."

Summer

Today's Bingo: Summer. "Mommy, is it summer?" "Yes, dear." "How do we know?" "It's warm, the days are longer, and you're not in school." The little boy thought for a minute. "Mom?" "Yes, dear." "Can it be summer all the time?"

Seagull

Today's Bingo: Seagull. Seagulls fly like graceful creatures surveying the rolling sea, and they swim like drunken ducks. Noticing the contrast: Bingo!

Window

Today's Bingo: Window. The monk's hut had one window. It was a simple hole in the wall with wooden shutters for cold and rain. One of his favorite meditations was to open the window, sit in front of it for an hour, and just look. He would see the world move, slow, and without care; and he, like the real world, would slow down.

Faith

Today's bingo: Faith. She opened up the fortune cookie. It read, "Faith is the bird that feels the light and sings while the dawn is still dark." She went online that night and signed up for the thing she'd always wanted to do and forever been afraid wouldn't happen.

Avalanche

Today's bingo: Avalanche. "Mom, I'm sooooo angry," said the little girl. "Why honey? What's the matter?" "I'm like a little snowball, and everything is making me madder." "How are you like a snowball?" The Mom said, trying not to smile. "You know when all the snow falls off a mountain but it starts with a little snow. That's me. I'm just having a bad day." "And I love you on bad days too," said the Mom.

Donuts

Today's Bingo: Donuts. Every morning the baker woke early, drank a coffee, and turned the oven on by 3:30 AM. His donuts were famous in seven counties and he sold out by nine every day. He could buy more ovens and sell more donuts. People offered him money to franchise the business at least once a year. When asked about his choices, he simply said, "I love donuts."

Fireworks

Today's Bingo: Fireworks. If you have nothing to celebrate, you're not breathing!

Rings

Today's Bingo: Rings. "Your phone is ringing." "I know." "So answer it." "I'm waiting for the third ring." "Why?" "It makes me pay attention. I look forward to who is calling and am completely present in that moment. I wait to pick up until exactly the moment before the fourth ring." "While you were talking it went to the fifth ring." "They'll call back."

Tea

Today's Bingo: Tea. "What is the purpose of tea?" Asked the Student. "To drink," said the Master. "But I can drink water," challenged the one learning. "In making and drinking tea," said the master, "You get to take your time."

Brilliance

Today's Bingo: Brilliance. Light pouring through damp window pains drenched by weeks of rain. A child's face at the zoo the first time she sees a monkey jump from limb to limb. The golden dome of an ancient building, gilded to edify and dazzle. Any idea you focus on long enough to appreciate and savor.

Grief

Today's Bingo: Grief. "I don't want to," the teenager whined. The moving van arrived at her family's house only two days after her high school graduation. Her mother asked her to finish packing her room. The teenager left the house, slammed the door, and her mother simply smiled. She knew her daughter felt things deeply, and she was grateful for a child who cared so much.

Holy

Today's Bingo: Holy. "Holy Vegetables," said the ten year old. Everyone at the farmer's market looked at him and smiled. He walked the endless rows of perfect shapes and colors touching, squeezing, smelling the summer's first production. He found his mother an hour later and said, "Mom, we've got to get this." He showed her the biggest eggplant she'd ever seen. "But you don't like vegetables," she reminded him. "I do right now," he said, and lead her to the collard greens.

Limp

Today's Bingo: Limp. The elephants had walked so far without finding any water, the little one's didn't look like they were going to make it. But the leader, no longer strong, limped on, and would until they found the river.

Will

Today's Bingo: Will. "Will can only do what will can do," said the Sage. "But I want to make things better," said the Student. "That is a good start," said the Sage. "So what do I do next?" Asked the Student. "Something more than want."

Wind

Today's Bingo: Wind. The three friends went on vacation and it never stopped raining. The wind blew so hard their cottage shook, seagulls got stuck in mid air, and the whistling at night made sleep impossible. They woke up every morning exhausted and cold. They laughed more that week than ever before.

Pour

Today's Bingo: Pour. "If it doesn't stop raining, everything is going to die," the young man said. "Yep," replied the old farmer. "But what are we doing to do?" "Till the field," said the old farmer. "But we already did that?" Said the young man. "Yep," said the farmer.

Chill

Today's Bingo: Chill. What would you do this weekend if you had a whole day to yourself? Imagine: Your mind is suddenly rid of all its worries and all you have to do, from an infinite bucket of possibilities, is choose how to rest. What will you do? Oh wait? Shouldn't this happen every weekend?

Rain

Today's Bingo: Rain. "Mom, can we go puddle stomping?" Said the boy. "No darling, I don't want to wash more cloths today." "No problem," said the boy. "I'll just stand out in the rain when we're done and you'll just have to use the dryer."

Early

Today's Bingo: Early. The monk rose before the sun. Dressed in his orange robes, he walked the narrow path up the mountain above his home. As the golden orb began to rise, gigantic, like a pancake on fire, he reached the top. He hated waking up early, and sitting on the summit, that thought never crossed his mind.

Hands

Today's Bingo: Hands. As the man and wife came home from dinner, their neighborhood was surrounded by police, fire trucks, and media. A lightening bolt had set a house on fire. Everyone was okay. Earlier in the day, the couple, driving on the highway, had nearly been run off the road by someone texting while driving. That night, the two sat on the porch and watched the stars holding hands.

Tax

Today's Bingo: Tax. The thing you pay. The first three letters of TAXi. The cost of running a country. The privilege of living in a community. What doing too much does to your soul.

Jackpot

Today's Bingo: Jackpot. "I just won the lottery," said the man waiting for the bus. The other man was in a business suit, and going to work. The other man asked, "Why are you riding the bus?" "Because I like it," said the winner. They stood quietly, watching the traffic. "What are you going to do now?" Asked the other man. Said the winner, "For the first time in my life, I'm not going to worry about it." What do you need right now to be happy wherever you are?

Connect

Today's Bingo: Connect. "How many ways are there to find enlightenment?" Asked the student. "You need only one," said the master.

Broken

Today's Bingo: Broken. The nurse said to the patient, "It doesn't look good." He said, "Depends where you're sitting." "Sir," the doctor added. "You don't have much time." "Depends on what I need to do." "Are you not worried?" The nurse pressed him. "Only about you, and your perspective on life." The patient smiled and enjoyed a sip of his coffee.

Mask

Today's Bingo: Mask. The stewardess did her usual routine. She smiled at the people in front of her as she clipped the seat belt together in the air. Her partner on the microphone told a joke about where they were flying today. She demonstrated how to put the oxygen mask on. Then, it happened. The woman on the microphone said, "And don't forget to put your mask on first before helping someone else." Did they realize they just offered the formula for enlightenment? If you're not breathing deep, your no good to anyone else.

Story

Today's Bingo: Story. Here goes: You have to produce the greatest story ever written if you want to save your love from your nemesis dropping her into a pit of solicitous anteaters. Now write yours: Only one rule: You only have thirty words.

Rainbow

Today's Bingo: Rainbow. "I just love those socks," said the friend. Her buddy was wearing rainbow socks. "Oh these? I got them when I was a kid," said the buddy. "No, they're really great," said the friend. She couldn't help staring at the woven technicolor. "My mom always said they were the color of my soul."

Gamble

Today's Bingo: Gamble. An old man sat with his daughter in the sun room of his nursing home. She said, "Dad, you have food on your shirt?" He shrugged his shoulders and smiled. They kept chatting. "Dad, you shouldn't talk so loud." He shrugged his shoulders and smiled. "Dad, I'm worried about you." The old man smiled again and said, "Did you notice the sun making the trees sparkle?" What's the riskiest thing you'd like to do? Climb a mountain? Quit your job? What about waking up in the morning and not worrying about what people think of you?

Draw

Today's Bingo: Draw. Picasso drew one-liners. He'd place his pencil on the page and then draw until the portrait, animal, or scene was complete. The pictures are an exotic diversity of squiggles and smooth lines. Bored in a meeting today? Draw your colleagues in one line. Wanting to get caught up in the moment? Observe something and recreate your fantasy version with one stroke of your pen.
*Note, this is not by Picasso, but in the same style found on Flickr.

Bad

Today's Bingo: Bad. "Dad, these pancakes taste like sawdust," said the Son. "I made them just like grandma used to," replied the Dad. "Yeah, except she made hers good." You and what you add to an experience are often the difference between bad and amazing!

Sneeze

Today's Bingo: Sneeze. "In the fall it's colds, in the winter it's flu, in the spring it's allergies," hurumphed the lady at the bus stop. "What's next?" She asked. Without looking up from his paper, the man standing next to her said, "Grumpopotamus flu." "What's that?" She sneezed as she asked the question. Still not looking up from his paper, he took one side step away from her. "It affects those who can't see the good that's always around them. Looks like you have it."

Vent

Today's Bingo: Vent. Do you walk in the door and pour out all your troubles? Are you the person in the office most likely to rant? How do you start the conversation? Venting is one of the great arts of mindfulness. To express what you really think and feel (but not alienate the person you're talking to or dump your crap all over their shoe) takes presence. The simple technique: Say, "I need to vent" before you go on your diatribe. Then you have told the world what you're about to say is not personal, and that you're in control of your emotions (and that's why you want to get rid of the bad ones).

End

Today's Bingo: End. "I just want this to be over," said the young monk to himself, tired of so much meditation. An older monk was leaving the temple at the same time. He walked beside the young monk and said nothing. "Don't you have anything to say," said the frustrated student. The old monk smiled. "That moment already is over--for everyone but you."