A Lamp in the Darkness: Illuminating the Path Through Difficult Times

There’s a time for being ahead and a time for being behind, a time for being in motion and a time for being at rest, a time for being vigorous and a time for being exhausted, a time for being in danger and a time to return to safety. The wise one sees things as they are without controlling them ... They are centered in the Tao and can go where they

The real tragedy is when we refuse to acknowledge and respect our own suffering, and instead spread it unconsciously to others.

If you can sit quietly after difficult news; if financial downturns you remain perfectly calm; if you can see your neighbors travel to fantastic places without a twinge of jealousy; if you can happily eat whatever is put on your plate; you can fall asleep after a day of running around without a drink or a pill; if you can always find contentment ju

Forgiveness means giving up all hope for a better past.

“Sometimes I go about pitying myself when all the while I’m being carried by great winds across the sky.”

“Which has had more value in your life, where have you grown more and learned more, where have you become more wise, where have you learned patience, understanding, equanimity, and forgiveness—in your hard times, or the good ones?”

In fact, it is in this self-compassion and self-love that you find the strength to carry the lamp through your darkest nights. And it is by first practicing self-compassion that you find not only a way to hold your own struggles and sorrows in your heart—but through them you learn how to connect with the sufferings and sorrows of all those around.

“No one can harm you, not even your worst enemy, as much as your own mind untrained. And no one can help you, not even your most loving mother and father, as much as your own mind well trained”—these

a sand castle, all is temporary. Build it, tend it, enjoy it. And when the time comes, let it go.