A Little Something They Don’t Teach You in School.

“I’ve been making a list of the things they don’t teach you at school. They don’t teach you how to love somebody. They don’t teach you how to be famous. They don’t teach you how to be rich or how to be poor. They don’t teach you how to walk away from someone you don’t love any longer. They don’t teach you how to know what’s going on in someone else’s mind. They don’t teach you what to say to someone who’s dying.”Neil Gaiman

I really love this quote, by author Neil Gaiman ~ as it provides a much-needed insight on life and of living.

My dears, there are just things that must be learned, and not simply taught. These are the lessons that require real life circumstances to help us understand their meaning.

The pain of watching a loved one’s passing ~ so that we may understand this gift of life.

The uncertainty of moving forward, without yet ever knowing our path ~ so that we may understand the true power in our purpose.

The torturous blow of another man’s hate…so that we may always understand the necessity for compassion.

These are the lessons that matter most of all – the lessons that can not be learned from a book.

It reminds me of a Buddhist story, the one in which an mad elephant charges wildly through a crowded street, forcing all in its path to flee in terror.

But, the Buddha remained ~ silently watching, and just simply waiting.

And when this mad elephant turned all of its massive rage towards Buddha ~ still he sat peacefully in meditation…smiling, and calling the elephant nearer.

The elephant, was so overcome by the Buddha’s radiant kindness, that he knelt before him – bowing his head in a most gentle reverence. In this moment, violent rage was overcome by tenderness.

Spoiler alert ~ the story isn’t really about a charging elephant, at all…rather, this story is about how we may free ourselves from personal suffering by simply changing our interaction with this world.

And that, my dears, is a little something they don’t teach you in school ~ to feel peace in this moment, no matter what life’s circumstances…or how ever many ‘charging elephants’…

Because, my dears…our happiness…our peace…our bliss… is something that we always control.

Namaste, my most beautiful friends…