We do the right thing not because we expect to change the world . . . (Click image for video)

We practice to accord with the world, 

not to have it conform to our wishes. 

Much of our energy seems directed at trying to get others to comply with our wishes.

We plan and rehearse what we’ll say. Or, utterly frustrated, we just blurt out what it is we want. Upon seeing the other person’s reaction, we frantically devise Plan B. Whatever our scheme, the goal is to get someone to stop doing something their way and start doing it ours. Unsurprisingly, regardless of our strategy, our desired effect invariably remains just that—a desire.

What we’re trying to do is change conditions, and they’re not amenable to a quick fix. A good understanding of causality is necessary to know the correct method to alter them. For now, we need to stop fussing over the barking dog, our midnight music-playing neighbor, the world’s laziest co-worker and stop allowing them to irritate us. Yes, they are annoying. No, they are not life-threatening.

So, let’s view them as tools for our practice of patience, instead of a means of torture.

Sentient beings are innumerable . . . (Click image for video)