We can let the circumstances of our lives harden us
so that we become increasingly resentful and afraid,
or we can let them soften us, and make us kinder.
We always have the choice.
Dalai Lama
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Image: Choices by Gemma Stiles via Flickr
About Me
Welcome! I am a lawyer turned freelance writer, essayist, and editor. On staff at Literary Mama and the co-founder and co-editor of the literary journal, The Sunlight Press, my essays and reported work have appeared in The Washington Post, The Lily, Saveur, Civil Eats, Brain, Child, ESPN and elsewhere. I am currently at work on a memoir on grief and culture and how it provides perspective on life’s ordinary graces. I invite you to appreciate the ordinary with me. I hope my daily practice of seeing the magic in the mundane helps you celebrate and find more of these moments in your life too. Read More
Wise words by a wise man.
Agreed, Ayala. He celebrated his 80th birthday this week so I thought I’d commemorate the occasion with a Thursday musing in his honor.
Beautiful and yet so true, our outlook and demeanor is always ours to control; no one else’s. We can’t always control our circumstances but we can control how we experience them. Have a great weekend Rudri! -Iva
Glad the quote resonated with you, Iva. Thanks for your words.
OH, this is lovely and so timely for me. Sometimes it’s easy to think that the hardening of ourselves will protect us. Hard lesson learned.