I used to be a lot of things: a reporter, a photographer, an editor, a communications coordinator. I lived in Toronto. I travelled. I worked out. I lived abroad. I had an active social life.

Then I met a charming French man, got married, and had two lovely children. Suddenly I found myself in a small beach town on lake Huron, wiping noses and singing Skinamarinky Dinky Dink all the livelong day.

I didn’t know it was possible to feel such boredom and bliss all at once. I simultaneously wanted to pause time to cherish the moments, and also dreamed of running away to the city, to a more exciting existence.

Suddenly my longtime interest in mindfulness meditation became a lifeline. Since I picked up my first Thich Nhat Hanh book when I was 16 years old, the theories and concepts of Buddhism spoke to my soul. Slowly I have begun more and more to rely on my practice to develop equanimity, let go of expectations, grow my compassion and patience.

Now, after five years of being a stay-at-home mother and wife, I see that happiness is not given to me by anyone else. It is mine to realize, each moment that I can be aware of my breath, each moment that I can appreciate my children, each moment that I can touch the earth around me.

I choose to stop sacrificing the present for the future.

“I have arrived. I am home. My destination is in each step.” —Thich Nhat Hanh