Sihanoukville, Cambodia
October 30, 2024
West Java, Indonesia
November 8, 2024
What Now?
What do we do when our hopes are dashed?How do we carry on when our plans are derailed?
How do we keep going when our expectations are crushed?
How do we find peace when everything around us reminds us of our loss?
To be at peace, we must rise above the suffering of our own disappointment. We feel sad when our expectations lead us to desire control over other people or situations that are beyond our control. This desire and expectation is the cause of our suffering.
The one thing we know about life is that it continues on. It has no opinion and is unconcerned with our happiness. Life itself is eternal. We are here but for a moment, and then gone. We are here to live. We live to be happy.
Happiness is funny. What makes one person happy may bring another to his knees. What brings joy to one person brings despair to another. We see this clearly when others celebrate while we mourn.
We are free, yet we imprison ourselves in cages of our own desires and expectations, intent on controlling outcomes that cannot be controlled; only accepted.
Contentment comes when we accept things as they are, welcoming the good and bad in equal measure: the good as an unexpected friend; the bad as a wise teacher.
We must do our duty and act in accordance with our conscience, in alignment with the truth. Once this is done, what more can remain?
We do what we must.
We accept all that is.
We move on, seeking the truth and fighting for justice with compassion as our guide.
As the great Victor Hugo wrote, “Even the darkest night will end and the sun will rise.” And in the words of the Buddha, “Three things cannot be long hidden: the sun, the moon, and the truth.”
Let us be seekers of the truth above all things. And when we discover the light of truth, let us be light for each other.
