When i face problems, running away sometimes seems like the easiest solution.
You can run away, of course. That freedom exists. But it is a very small, petty freedom. It only leads to a life of great hardship, a life in which you will be powerless, weak and completely frustrated.
Alongside this small freedom, however, exists a much greater freedom. The Japanese novelist Eiji Yoshikawa writes, Great character is forged through hardship. Only by polishing yourself through repeated difficulties can you build a self that sparkles as brightly as a gem. When you have developed such a state of being, nothing will faze you. You will be free. You will be victorious. Hardships will even become enjoyable. Daring to take on tough challenges-that in itself is immense freedom.
You may run away from hard work and effort, declaring yourself a free spirit, but you can not run away from yourself, from your own weakness, personality and destiny. It is like trying to run from your own shadow. It is even more impossible to escape from the sufferings of aging, sickness and death inherent in the human condition. The more you try to avoid hardships, the more doggedly they pursue you, like so many relentless hounds chasing at your heels. Thats why its important that you turn and face your troubles head-on.
The springtime of our youth is meant to be lived with our faces turned toward the sun. As a season of growth youth is a time of both great joy and great suffering. it is filled with problems and worries of all kinds. But rather than run away from them, the key is to keep seeking the sun, to keep moving in the direction of the sunlight, to challenge the pain and agony that are part of growing up.
Never give in to defeat. The hardships you experience now will all contribute to your growth. Therefore, the important thing is to keep pressing forward no matter how tough or painful the going may get.
Youth is the time to develop a spirit of persistence. And those who keep striving for improvement remain youthful no matter what their age. Conversely, those who fail to do so, event if they are young in years, will be old and weak in spirit.
Life if battle to win ultimate and unlimited freedom. Buddhism teaches the concept of using our negative tendencies and sufferings as springboard to happiness, to forging within our lives a state of unsurpassed freedom.
Tuesday, January 25, 2011
Handling Hart Broken!
I recently broke up with someone, and I am really depressed.
Many people can relate to such feelings. But you are only letting yourself down if you fall victim to unhealthy obsession or are so blinded by love, you can't see anything else. No matter what, always do your best to live courageously, to be strong-hearted. Youth is a time for advancing bravely into the future. So please don't allow yourself to veer off course or fall behind or hide in the shadows.
Youth is not a time for pessimism or self-pity. That mind-set is for losers. Instead, in the face of rejection, I hope you will cultivate a resilient spirit, that you will have the confidence to think. It's their loss if they can't appreciate how wonderful I am.
Jonh D.Rockefeller, the American industrialist and philanthropist who amassed a huge fortune, was such a person. In his younger days, when he was poor, he proposed to his first love, but she turned him down. Ironically, the young woman's mother wouldn't allow her daughter to marry someone whose prospects seemed so dim, a perfect example of how difficult it is to evaluate potential. Rather than feeling depressed, it seems to have been just the thing to inspire young Rockefeller.
Please don't let a broken heart discourage you. Tell yourself that you're not so weak or fragile that such a minor possibly compare to the person you have lost. But how will this person compare to the nest ten, the next hundred, the next thousand people you will meet? You can not declare with certain that there won't be another who far surpasses this person in our affections. As you grow, the way you look at people will change as well.
I'm sure one who has heart broken felt unable to go on, your self-esteem in tatters. But you must never think you are worthless. No one can substitute for you, who are more precious than all the treasure in the universe put together. No matter what your present circumstances, your are irreplaceable. Please hold on to that thought, fight to overcome all obstacles and rise out to all suffering and despair.
It's crucial that you become strong. If you are strong, even your sadness will become a source of nourishment and the things that make you suffer will purify your life. It is precisely because we have experienced great suffering that we can grow strong and become capable adults.
I have heard it said If you are sad, cry-cry until your tears have washed away all the pain. It's like crossing a river of suffering. Those who have done so have a depth and radiance unknown to those who are strangers to such experience. The thing is not to drown in the river.
What's important is to keep moving forward. If you use your sadness as a source of growth, you will become a person of greater depth and breath- an even more wonderful you. This is the harvest of your pain and suffering.
Hold your head high. Because you have lived with all your might, you are a victor.
Many people can relate to such feelings. But you are only letting yourself down if you fall victim to unhealthy obsession or are so blinded by love, you can't see anything else. No matter what, always do your best to live courageously, to be strong-hearted. Youth is a time for advancing bravely into the future. So please don't allow yourself to veer off course or fall behind or hide in the shadows.
Youth is not a time for pessimism or self-pity. That mind-set is for losers. Instead, in the face of rejection, I hope you will cultivate a resilient spirit, that you will have the confidence to think. It's their loss if they can't appreciate how wonderful I am.
Jonh D.Rockefeller, the American industrialist and philanthropist who amassed a huge fortune, was such a person. In his younger days, when he was poor, he proposed to his first love, but she turned him down. Ironically, the young woman's mother wouldn't allow her daughter to marry someone whose prospects seemed so dim, a perfect example of how difficult it is to evaluate potential. Rather than feeling depressed, it seems to have been just the thing to inspire young Rockefeller.
Please don't let a broken heart discourage you. Tell yourself that you're not so weak or fragile that such a minor possibly compare to the person you have lost. But how will this person compare to the nest ten, the next hundred, the next thousand people you will meet? You can not declare with certain that there won't be another who far surpasses this person in our affections. As you grow, the way you look at people will change as well.
I'm sure one who has heart broken felt unable to go on, your self-esteem in tatters. But you must never think you are worthless. No one can substitute for you, who are more precious than all the treasure in the universe put together. No matter what your present circumstances, your are irreplaceable. Please hold on to that thought, fight to overcome all obstacles and rise out to all suffering and despair.
It's crucial that you become strong. If you are strong, even your sadness will become a source of nourishment and the things that make you suffer will purify your life. It is precisely because we have experienced great suffering that we can grow strong and become capable adults.
I have heard it said If you are sad, cry-cry until your tears have washed away all the pain. It's like crossing a river of suffering. Those who have done so have a depth and radiance unknown to those who are strangers to such experience. The thing is not to drown in the river.
What's important is to keep moving forward. If you use your sadness as a source of growth, you will become a person of greater depth and breath- an even more wonderful you. This is the harvest of your pain and suffering.
Hold your head high. Because you have lived with all your might, you are a victor.
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