I watched a young man at the check-out today.

He’d been standing in line for what I assume was ‘too long’, and to the extent that his ‘pain’ had become physical.

He shifted uncomfortably between his feet, occasionally grimacing beneath the weight of his worry.

Where did he have to ‘be’ – I wondered. And, what matter was this ‘delay’?

Though, who am I to cast first stone – as I, myself, have succumbed to that same habitual pattern.

When we are uncomfortable, we are instantly drawn to that pain. We sense it, we feel it – and, we are sometimes overcome by it. At first, like this young man, we may ‘shift’ with worry – our first inclination that thinking mind has won.

And, yet – though we know this sensation far too well, we are often hesitant to break free from it.

As odd as it may sound, there *is* a comfort to these patterns. Though, they cause us such unrest – at least, we know the experience of that unrest.

Perhaps, maintaining the habit far exceeds the uncertainty of ‘what lies beyond.’

What might we uncover with careful pause? Is there a past hurt, a true cause for our distress? Perhaps, in looking deeply, we fear what might be revealed? Stronger still than our willingness to heal.

But, with each of these moments – we are presented an opportunity; to seek a happiness that is unaffected by change.

And, isn’t that always the better solution? To find the means to know a happiness that can not be changed by change?

The Buddha taught that in order to know happiness we must be willing to know ourselves. To that end, we should embrace these moments with gratitude.

As uncomfortable as it might have been to be immediately delayed, that longer term process has a much greater yield.

Because, when we’ve finally courage enough to begin the work of truly knowing oneself; we begin to understand the miracle of our being.

We are imperfect; but it is precisely this imperfection which yields the greatest reward.

Namaste ❤️