Circumstances—favorable and unfavorable—provide practice opportunities. (Click image for video)

The situation isn’t bad or good; 

it all depends on what we tell ourselves. 

In Buddhism, we hear about turning afflictions into bodhi.

In effect, it is transforming negative thoughts into awakened ones. How? We stop viewing a situation as trying and see it in a favorable light. For example, we change “that yapping dog is driving me crazy!” to “that dog is helping me develop patience.”

Now I can assure you from personal experience that it’s much easier to type the previous sentence than do it.

The dog really is annoying, and I’m trying to write. So, how can I transform here? Well, for one thing, my patience can always stand some work. And since it can only be practiced in adverse conditions, a yapping dog is a winner. So, thank you, dog! Noisy as you are, you are helping me out. Thinking about 365 topics to write is challenging. Using this barking dog is an example of about turning afflictions into Bodhi, of changing a negative thought into one that benefits others.

And more patience always helps.

When thrown by a horse, get back on. (Click image for video)

We need to be trustworthy. 

Not be a wolf’s dinner. 

If we keep giving a shaded view of something that happened, people will learn to discount, and eventually ignore, what we say. Especially if we cast ourselves in the starring role.

Remember the hapless boy who cried wolf when there wasn’t one in sight? In time, the villagers learned not to believe him. He was left to fend for himself (and we know how well that turned out) when a wolf actually turned up. The villagers came to ignore his cries of “WOLF!” because experience told them that the boy saw telling the truth as unimportant.

He wasn’t trustworthy.

He wasn’t believable.

In the same way, if we keep skewing our reporting while others know the reality, it’s only a matter of time until people listen to us with a healthy dose of skepticism. How can they trust us when we seem incapable of reporting an event honestly and relating it properly?

Others may deem us to be a nice person, but discountable at the same time. Is this how we want others to perceive us?