Just finish reading a book and wanted to share some thoughts and feelings.All the time, I come across people who still define happiness as a life without pain, a life without too many problems, at least not big ones. They believe that fulfillment means
1) Finding pleasures and
2) Avoiding pain.
Unfortunately, they are destined for the deepest unhappiness. They do not understand that there is no such thing as a smooth ride in life. They do not understand that life always involves struggle- and that they will not get a free pass from the pain
The absolute reality is that when it comes to living , there are a thousand bumps along the way, some of them small, some of them jarring.
With life comes illness and injury, rejection and disappointment, frustration and misfortune.
You will endure unexpected turns and hardships, some that will blindside you by chance, and some that will be of your own making.
You endure negative circumstances beyond your control and you have to endure the consequences of your or someone else’s poor decisions and self destructive behaviors.
Make no mistakes, problems are innumerable and endless. I once read a report from the World Future Society that listed 2,635 problems facing humanity, a list ranging from nuclear war to plagues to financial concerns.
The institution of marriage continues to crumble. The divorce rate is estimated to be as high as 60 percent, and the average length of new marriage is now about 22 months.
Children we do have are not being at all well treated.
The reported emotional neglect of children has increased 330 percent in the last decade.
We live in the fastest paced, most rapidly changing society in the history of humankind. Indeed, the changes are coming so fast that it is difficult to gain our footing, let alone predict the future. Not too many generations ago, we planned on going to work for the same company all our lives. Today it is not uncommon for people to have not just four different jobs in a lifetime, but four different careers!
The change is so dizzying that organizations are being asked to do in a year what used to take a decade. Just when you though we were in the midst of an unparalleled economic boom, we now face a global recession and a shrinking job market.
The ever changing demands of a technological society have made holding a steady job as difficult as tap dancing on quicksand. Unemployment rolls are swelling. Stock options are gone. People who bought beautiful homes a few years ago are now talking to bankruptcy attorneys.
In other words, the good life is not going to just happen to you. To grab a hold of the good life, then you must be prepared for the struggles that lay ahead.
It is that period in life when one feels lost in the wilderness, disconnected from all others, alienated and isolated from the very things that make life seem worth living.
I’m not here to discuss all the negative thing in the world but to tell you instead:
Those very struggles were actually going to be your best opportunities to develop the richer and more satisfying life you’ve always wanted.
The key to happiness is not to avoid life ‘s struggles , but to go out of your way to deal with them.
Pray to Lord Buddha with Sincerity for Strength and wisdom, wear your amulets with strong faith and belief, embraces all the challenges. Be courage enough not just to recognizes life’s challenges , but to embrace them and rise above them. Through the process of facing our problems and then trying to deal with them, we ultimately make ourselves better human beings.
This is a vital invaluable piece of truth.
Problems are the cutting edge that distinguishes between success and failure.
Problems call forth our courage and our wisdom;indeed they create our courage and our wisdom.
So have faith in your amulets and may buddha bless us all.
Peace.
