From SGIUSA, I'm Cassidy Bradford and this is Budability, the weekly series where I talk with Buddhists from all walks of life about the power we each have to change our lives and the world around us.

Growing up in a household that practiced Buddhism, I've never quite known what it was like to live in a world without Buddhist philosophy.

Of course, there was definitely a before and after in terms of me starting my own practice, but I don't quite have the experience of discovering Namyo Hōren

Gaykiao. And that's why I'm always interested in hearing from folks who find Buddhism in adulthood.

What was their life like before? What is their life like now? So, this week, we asked you to share

one word to describe your first year of Buddhist practice. The answers were

really cool to see. The biggest responses were transformational, hopeful, and grateful. Some

said it was challenging. Others felt alive and liberated. A few folks said it was anchoring,

which struck me. Buddhism becomes the foundation

for how we live our lives and an anchor in the midst of its ups and downs. Today's guest,

Daylon Haidt, recently started practicing SGI nature in Buddhism and found that it's empowered

them to take full responsibility for their

happiness. We discussed their first year of Buddhist practice and how it helped them to become

courageous and live authentically. So my name is Dalen Haidt. My pronouns are they them. I currently live in Houston, Texas. I work in disability services on my college campus, and I am 22 years old.

I'm really excited to hear your story because, you know, for anybody listening, you actually started your Buddhist practice like a little over a year ago. So you're kind of like fresh,

you know, like just started practicing SGI Nutri Buddhism pretty recently. So yeah, I'm really

excited to hear kind of your experience, getting exposed to Buddhism and how it's impacted your

life. But before we dig into like your Buddhist practice,

I wanted to know just a little bit about like what your life was like before you encountered

Buddhism. When, well, when I was growing up, I grew up in rural Alberta, Canada. And that was,

it was an all right time. I grew up with my, my Nana and Papa before being switched into the care of my mother.

And then during that, it was a very difficult time. So once I was switched back to my Nana and Papa's

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