20 MORE religions and faith practices 365

Robyn Lebron ‡ ‡ ‡ ‡ ‡ ‡ ‡ ‡ everything that happens as an opportunity to open and expand your inner life, exerting yourself to the fullest in the place you find yourself now Being halfhearted is such a waste If we go around as if we’re half-asleep all the time, we can’t hope to savor a life that is free of regret Enthusiasm and vigor are vital ingredients for a fulfilling life Whether it be individuals, organizations, nations, civilizations, all forms of life in nature—for all entities in this universe, life is an ongoing challenge In this struggle we find the essence and unchanging truth of life When one stops challenging, decline begins Hardships make us strong Problems give birth to wisdom Sorrows cultivate compassion Those who have suffered the most will become the happiest The struggle between happiness and unhappiness is the story of human existence The struggle between peace and war is the history of the human race The power that leads us to eternal victory amid these struggles is the power of good within us Life is the blossoming of flowers in the spring, the ripening of fruit in the fall, the rhythm of the earth and of nature Life is the…myriad combinations and permutations of visible and invisible phenomena Life is all things Of course, people want to live long But in the end, what matters more is what we have been able to leave behind, the value we have created in our lives, the number of people we have made happy and how much we have been able to grow and expand as a person Buddhism teaches that a single day of life is worth more than all the treasures of the universe Everyone born in this world has a unique role that only he or she can fulfill Were this not the case, we would not be here The universe never acts without cause; everything invariably has a reason for being