If something is glorious or even just slightly pleasant, you say, "Wow! I want that." If it's wretched or even just slightly irritating, you say, "I want out of it!" The point is that challenges don't cease, and if you wish to keep your heart open, the challenges will quickly increase rather than decrease. Harmony may seem a distant hope.

Lest you be hard on yourself about being swayed by external circumstances, keep in mind the story of Shakyamuni Buddha. Just before the moment of his enlightenment, all of the external circumstances came to try to sway him in the form of the daughters of Mara. (Mara symbolizes the ways we have of looking for alternatives to being where we are.)

Just before he was enlightened, every kind of idea occurred to the Buddha. It was as if every challenge in the book came up. On that evening what was different was that he simply held his seat, opened his heart to whatever might arise, didn't shut down, and was fully there. Lest you feel bad about yourself, not being swayed by external circumstances as a total experience is called enlightenment.

From START WHERE YOU ARE by Pema Chdrn, 1994.
Published by arrangement with Shambhala Publications, Inc., Boston.