Letting Go

[Digginit]

I bet if I were to do a search, I'd find this topic TOO many times. But the "Two Boxes" thread had me thinking about stuff (and I didn't want to hijack that thread), and then I remembered a quote I read some time ago about how sometimes we hang onto our suffering--it's hard to let go, because it's familiar and letting go of it is the unknown. I wish I could remember the actual quote...but I can't. So I looked it up.

People have a hard time letting go of their suffering. Out of a fear of the unknown, they prefer suffering that is familiar.

Thich Nhat Hanh

I've seen that in MY life. When that uncomfortable edge is too close, then I find myself clinging to pain and suffering. When I finally get sick enough of it that I'd rather just vomit, I *finally* let it go. Or at least historically that's how it seems to happen.

Also, as I was looking that one up, I ran across another tid-bit: "Pain is part of life. Suffering is optional." I like that. It's true. You see it in people all the time. Some dwell on the suffering caused by the bad stuff in their lives while others brush it off and move on. I want to learn to be more like the latter.

I babble a lot...these were kind of random thoughts bouncing around in my nugget. Haven't put 'em together in any cohesive way at all, but they were topics that I like.

[indigo]

I love Thich Nhat Hanh, he is about an hour or so away from me at Plum Village, he makes a lot of sense to me.