Welcome to the Buddhist Boot Camp Podcast. Our intention is to awaken, enlighten, enrich, and inspire a simple and uncomplicated life. Discover the benefits of mindful living with your host, Timber Hawkeye. Much of our suffering in life is not caused by the situation we're in, but by the way we react to that situation.
If we respond by saying or even just thinking, "This shouldn't be happening," we will experience anger, anxiety, despair, and hopelessness, which are often significantly worse than the situation itself.
It's thinking "This shouldn't be happening," that propels you from what is just a less than ideal situation, all the way to devastation, victim mentality, and questions like "Why me?" You see, it's our response to stimuli that causes our suffering, and that's really good to know because even though pain is usually out of our control, choosing not to suffer is an option. I mean, you already know that circumstances in life won't always be ideal, comfortable, or convenient, right?
In fact, haven't you been witnessing them fluctuate from the seemingly unbearable all the way to incredible, joyous, painful, awesome, devastating, and so on?
we can either resist each one of those changes, which only leads to a lifelong struggle with everything and everyone around us, or we can gently navigate through all these inevitable twists and turns. And that's the first secret to doing it skillfully: acknowledging that twists and turns
are inevitable. Don't kid yourself by thinking it's going to be smooth sailing from now on, it's going to be smooth sailing from now on, it won't be, there will always be something or someone testing your patience. So you can finally learn what it is they are trying to teach you, which is to be patient, or you can keep blaming people, presidents, or other drivers on the road
for your emotional state. This will cost you your mental and physical health, but hey, at least your story is going to have a bad guy in it. But in reality, other people aren't the problem. Heck, there's also nothing wrong with Mondays, wrinkles, stretch marks, or driving only 55 miles per hour, the problem is our attitude towards those things. Don't get me wrong, I'm not suggesting that we become numb and witness what we think is unjust in the world and do nothing about it.
I'm urging you to consider how much more you can accomplish towards your goal, when you, yourself, are not disturbing your inner peace; when you, yourself, remain calm and collected. There are over 7 billion people in the world, don't let just one of them ruin your day, and please don't let that one be you. We have all been lied to, cheated on, overworked, underpaid, wronged, misunderstood, and underappreciated at one or many times during our lives,
and yet we are still here. We are not broken. In fact, we can even be wronged again and still keep going. So don't identify as a victim, and don't play the blame game, be grateful for everything you have in your life instead of whining about what you don't. You have enough. We all do. And, hey, if you have more than enough, then please share it with others. Timber Hawkeye is the bestselling author of Faithfully Religionless and Buddhist Boot Camp.
For additional information, please visit BuddhistBootCamp.com where you can order autographed books to support the Prison Library Project, watch Timber's inspiring TED Talk, and join our monthly mailing list. We hope you have enjoyed this episode and invite you to subscribe for more thought-provoking discussions. Thank you for being a Soldier of Peace in the Army of Love.🙏