At the end of the 28-day Challenge’s blogging, I find myself returning again to asking myself if and how much can I change?
Martine Batchelor, in “Let go: a Buddhist guide to breaking free of habits”, has the same questions:
How do I measure up? How happy, wise, compassionate, clever am I or have I been?
…
What is your mental benchmark for happiness, wisdom, and compassion? Often meditators feel bad because they are not mindful enough or wise enough or compassionate enough. Who decided where the benchmark is? Do we need one?
My thought at the end of my last blog was that I am OK with trusting that I can and will change (with the implied hope being that it will be for the better).
Relying as much as I do on the received wisdom of those more experienced than me, I was happy to see that Martine Batchelor agrees:
…counting and measuring is a useful skill in construction work and when doing our accounts, but we need to be careful that it does not become a pattern that obliterates anything else in our experience and in our potential.
And so, it is with gratitude that I have been able to share in the experience, the learnings, and the company of Andrea D, Andrea G, and Carol and their blogs. Thank you all for sharing your wisdom, pain, and happiness. It has been a valuable part of my own experiences.
With respect, I offer thanks also to Jeanne Corrigal for your encouragement and leadership in this challenge and our sangha, and to Sharon Salzberg for your guidance and insight.
With mettā.
