Buddhist

I have been sharing my new Buddhist knowledge with all of my friends, family and staff members. I'm not in the least bit educated enough to be quoting Buddhist teaching, but it's not really stopping me. I'm halfway through "Buddhism for Beginners" so that seems sufficient.

I'm actually not sure that my advice is fully based on Buddhist teaching- it's more of a sampler, but it's helping me as I begin this summer of uncertainty. The lesson I have most latched onto has been to allow yourself to fully welcome and experience every feeling and then let it go. Too often, we try to avoid things, ignore/deny our true feelings and end up with a jumble of thoughts and feelings that build up to be a ball of anxiety and stress inside.

The negative things that happen in life aren't an interruption- they are part of the journey. So instead of ignoring them, we need to embrace them, feel the feeling and then move on. It's become my mantra this summer.

I find myself saying, "I feel anxious about the unknown state of camp" or "I feel sad that this is probably the end" and then taking a moment to feel it (even though pain and stress are uncomfortable) and then saying, "okay, I'm letting these feelings go into the universe". I'm trying to accept and take comfort in the fact that life is one big collage made up of a million experiences and each of these things, even the ones I'm not happy about, are going into making me who I am and my life what it is.

I hope I can keep up this calm, peaceful demeanor all summer.