There’s an old woman who walks along the street where I work. When we first met, she could barely move having just endured a substantial surgical repair. Yet, day after day, she would greet me near the door. “Good morning,” I’d smile. “More than you know,” she’d return.

Though she experienced what I’m sure was excruciating pain, still she had faith in that ‘step after next’. She moved clumsily, at first – hunched over an aluminum walker, her body barely able to support her weakened state. But, in time, her movements became more fluid – ultimately assured by her progress to date.

In the beginning, she’d walk only a few steps – then another and one more. I asked her once how she accomplished so much. “I’ve had good days and I’ve had bad,” she said. “But, I never let it get me down.”

When we think of resilience, sometimes we consider only in terms of grande, sweeping gestures; the ‘better’ of our moments – the ones in which we have clearly risen above. Though, do we consider the day to day? The clumsier movements leading to that step after next?

“The world is full of pain, uncertainty, and injustice,” Jack Kornfield writes. “But in this vulnerable human life, every loss is an opportunity either to shut out the world or to stand up with dignity and let the heart respond.”

“To let the heart respond” – this is the basis of our practice. To embrace our status with conviction, not judgement; to encourage resilience in those much smaller steps.

“We need a warriors heart,” he continues to share. “(one) that lets us face our lives directly, our pains and limitations, our joys and possibilities.”

For my friend, this tenacious old woman, every single step was a reminder – a reminder of her potential in spite of the pain.

A little something to consider, my friends – particularly, on those not so better days.

In peace…

Namaste ❤️