Welcome to the Buddhist Boot Camp Podcast. Our intention is to awaken, enlighten, enrich, and inspire a simple and uncomplicated life.

Discover the benefits of mindful living with your host, Timber Hawkeye. Much of our suffering in life is not caused by the situation we're in,

but by the way we react to that situation.

If we respond by saying, or even just thinking,

this shouldn't be happening, we will experience anger, anxiety, despair, and hopelessness, which are often significantly worse than the situation itself.

It's thinking this shouldn't be happening that propels you from what is just a less than ideal situation all the way to devastation victim mentality and questions like why me you see it's our response to stimuli that causes our suffering and that's really good to know because even though

pain is usually out of our control, choosing not to suffer is an option. I mean you

already know that circumstances in life won't always be ideal, comfortable, or convenient, right?

In fact, haven't you been witnessing them fluctuate from the seemingly unbearable all the way to incredible,

joyous, painful, awesome, devastating, and so on, we have a choice.

We can either resist each one of those changes, which only leads to a lifelong struggle with everything and everyone around us.

Or we can gently navigate through all these inevitable twists and turns.

And that's the first secret to doing it skillfully, acknowledging that twists and turns are inevitable.

Don't kid yourself by thinking it's going to be smooth sailing from now on.

It won't be.

There will always be something or someone testing your patients.

So you can finally learn what it is they are trying to teach you, which is to be patient.

Or you can keep blaming people, presidents, or other drivers on the road for your emotional state.

This will cost you your mental and physical health, but hey, at least your story is going to have a bad guy in it.

But in reality, other people aren't. at least your story is going to have a bad guy in it.

But in reality, other people aren't the problem.

Heck, there's also nothing wrong with Mondays, wrinkles, stretch marks, or driving only 55 miles per hour.

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