A Life in Light: Meditations on Impermanence

Pain, like almost everything else, is impermanent. Receiving love is impermanent, but giving love can be permanent.

I was accepting impermanence and moving in gratitude for what was present.

There is nothing like lying on the ground to ground us. We feel the earth beneath us and look at the sky above. We are no longer a small individual being but are connected to the great suchness of the universe.

No matter our circumstances, with effort, we can learn to control our attention. We can accept responsibility for our own happiness and look inside ourselves for the light we can always find. As a flourishing friend told me, “I have everything I need to be happy right between my ears.”

could choose to stop making myself unhappy by waiting for something that would never happen. I could declare a truce with my own neediness and simply walk away from it. I could end my argument with reality and accept life as it is. This heart/mind insight comforted me.

What could save me was loosening my grip and surrendering to the situation I could not change.

How do we lead a good life in all circumstances?

What had saved me was stopping the struggle.

realized that no children get everything they want.