Tiny Buddha

Category: Change

  • Tiny Wisdom: On Adapting

    Tiny Wisdom: On Adapting

    “The art of life is constant readjusting to your surroundings.” ~Kazuko Okokaura

    Oftentimes, when we don’t adapt to our surroundings, it’s because we refuse to see ourselves in new ways.

    Maybe you think that you’re a shy person, so you let that justify sitting alone when an intimate gathering suddenly turns into a party.

    Or you believe that you’re unmotivated, so you don’t make the effort to promote yourself when a potential new partner walks into your life.

    Or you feel certain that you’re not tech-savvy, so you refuse to learn a new software that could make you far more valuable to your company.

    The world is going to change around us, and opportunities will present themselves every day, every hour, and every moment.

    Whether or not we seize those possibilities depends entirely on our willingness to adjust how we understand who we are and what we can do.

    Today, if you feel limited by a constricting, self-imposed label, ask yourself: Would it be worth considering that I am more than the narrow sense of identity I’ve formed? If I let that go, what might I try today?

    Photo by aimforawesome

  • Tiny Wisdom: On Everyday Change

    Tiny Wisdom: On Everyday Change

    Buddha

    “The doors we open and close each day decide the lives we live.” ~Flora Whittemore

    Some decisions seem so inconsequential when you make them.

    You choose not to go to lunch with your coworkers. You decide against making that call about taking a class. You reconsider your plans to go out with your friends and instead sit alone, in a familiar space, with a familiar level of comfort.

    Every small decision affects the next decision you get to make.

    If you don’t go to lunch, you might not learn about a new position at your company. If you don’t make the call, you might not find out there’s a scholarship program that could help make your dreams come true much more easily than you thought. If you don’t join your friends, you might miss a unique experience that you’d have cherished if you had it.

    We don’t have to do everything; in fact, it’s just not possible. But we can choose to open doors more often than we close them. We can choose to be part of the world more often than sitting on the outside.

    What doors will you open today?

    Photo by neonow

  • Tiny Wisdom: On Choosing

    Tiny Wisdom: On Choosing

    “There are two primary choices in life: to accept conditions as they exist, or accept responsibility for changing them.” ~Denis Waitley

    Sometimes complaining, stressing, analyzing, and fantasizing can seem proactive, but they don’t actually change anything. Visualizing or planning may help you take action, but nothing changes unless you actually do.

    Today if you feel aggravated with your circumstances ask yourself these questions: Am I willing to do something to change them? And if not, what can I do to enjoy today instead of dwelling and letting it slip away?

    Photo by joiseyshowaa

  • Tiny Wisdom: On Risks

    Tiny Wisdom: On Risks

    “It’s not because things are difficult that we dare not venture. It’s because we dare not venture that they are difficult.” ~Seneca

    Taking the path of least resistance actually requires a lot of resistance. It’s human nature to want to soar! To venture out, explore the world, expand ourselves and our minds and live with passion, enthusiasm, and abandon.

    You might be doing that already, whatever that means to you. Or you may be containing yourself into a safe, predictable box, assuming everything outside it is far beyond your reach.

    It’s not—it’s not nearly as far away as you think.

    We’d be kidding ourselves if we pretended the world is without obstacles; but we’d be cheating ourselves if we didn’t acknowledge a lot of them are in our heads.

    Today, dare beyond your self-imposed limitations. It’s a lot easier to venture out of your comfort zone when you decide to stop fighting yourself.

    Photo by Wonderlane

  • Tiny Wisdom: On Choices

    Tiny Wisdom: On Choices

    “We must never forget that it is through our actions, words, and thoughts that we have a choice.” -Sogyal Rinpoche

    Nothing is as discouraging as feeling you don’t have a choice—that you’re trapped in a situation you can’t change, with a person who won’t change, or with feelings about yourself that you’ve stopped believing you can change.

    We’ve all been there before.

    We’ve accepted thankless jobs just to make ends meet. We’ve hurt or watched friends hurting, feeling powerless to end the pain. We’ve waited for love, or mourned unrequited love, or wondered if it was really better to have loved and lost than to never have loved at all.

    We’ve all felt helpless before, and we’ll all be there at some point again—yet we have far more power than we think.

    We can’t always control our circumstances, but we can shape them with our actions. We can’t always save the people around us, but we can support them with our love and attention. We can’t always create a world that feels safe, but we can choose how to experience it with our thoughts.

    Every day we have limitless choices, thousands of mini-opportunities to live a peaceful, empowered life.

    What choices will you make today?

    photo by jaitra.gillespie