Thursday, January 24, 2008



Today's inspirational thought from bighappybuddha.com is rather thought provoking:



People get into a heavy-duty sin and guilt trip, feeling that if things are going wrong, that means that they did something bad and they are being punished. That's not the idea at all. The idea of karma is that you continually get the teachings that you need to open your heart. To the degree that you didn't understand in the past how to stop protecting your soft spot, how to stop armoring your heart, you're given this gift of teachings in the form of your life, to give you everything you need to open further.

~Pema Chodron
What if, when something bad happens, we stop looking for ways we went wrong? What if we looked at it as something we needed to learn? In order to have an open heart and to fully exerience the beauty of life and the world around us, we need to learn certain lessons? What if we stopped being so hard on ourselves and remembered we are imperfect beings with things to learn so we can grow into our full potential?

What if we just let ourselves be?


9 comments:

Bezzie said...

I sort of do this at work, I keep a running list of my work eff-ups and a list right under that of what I've learned.

People will probably think I'm nuts if they ever find that list though!

historicstitcher said...

I've thought for quite a long time that people are forced to repeat experiences they don't learn from. Like women who continually dat user-men, or people who keep making the same mistakes over and over again...if they stop and look at what they're doing, and learn from it, they'll not make that same mistake again.

I often tell my son it's ok to make mistakes - just don't make the same one twice!

amy said...

Thank you. Thank you very much for sharing that.

teabird said...

This would involve so many levels of trust that I get dizzy thinking about it.

TinkingBell said...

Oh yes mistakes are definitely learning oppotunities - but the trick is not to permanently damage yourself while making them!

roxie said...

One of my favorite verses from the Bible is, "Be anxious for nothing, but in all things give thanks . . ."(Phillipians:4) which is another way of saying the same thing. If we can start saying, "Thanks, I needed this." and figuring out why, life will be sweeter for us.

Michele said...

beautiful post. quite in line with what i've been reading this week.

Amy Lane said...

I love that idea...considering how badly I've screwed up (passionate people--we go over a cliff with a scream, a holler, and a puzzled expression when we hit!) it's nice to know that it's all 'a learning experience'.

Rose Red said...

This is an excellent way of looking at things - thank you for sharing this.

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