A dear friend is taking her refuge vows this coming Sunday. She is a beautiful human being, and I feel joy for her and for myself in knowing her. Being a witness to her complex nature has been so enlightening for me. Her struggles feel like mine, at this point in the relationship and her triumphs mine as well. She is my Buddhist swim buddy, though we study different paths and listen to different teachers most of the time. What we share is how we take our intentions and discuss our attempts to integrate them into our ordinary lives. And, increasingly, over the course of over a decade, we have seen this become easier. When we tell each other about noticing a how we did or didn't say something, how we watched our reactivity and rode it out, how we were so proud of ourselves when our instincts lead to skillfulness with others or ourselves, we rejoice.
Growing older is challenging, but it is also rewarding, when we stay open to how that master - change - can work in our favor. Then our aging becomes a blessing.
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