Hey everyone, it's K-Sunga here. I just want to let you know that we've launched a brand

new call and advice podcast called Dear Headspace. Each week the headspace teachers, along

with some amazing new friends, are answering your questions about relationships, work,

life, mindfulness, and just about everything else. It's so different from anything we've

ever created and we're so excited for you to hear it. Dear Headspace comes out every

Tuesday on the Headspace app and anywhere that you listen to podcasts. Thanks for listening.

Hi, I'm Sam and welcome to Radio Headspace and to Wednesday morning. So anyone who knows

me knows how much me and my family love board games and I'm not talking like game of life

scrabble type board games. I'm talking complex strategic board games that take at least an

hour just to learn. I used to consider myself as someone lacking that strategy gene. These

games just felt impossible and every time I played and lost it made me feel hopeless. Learning

them to grit but through that process I discovered a love I might have missed if I didn't stick

it out. As I thought about this topic I thought back on times where I discovered my capacity

to persist when in the face of difficult challenges. And this takes me back to high school and

one of the most memorable days of my life. I was 16 and had just learned how to meditate

from a friend. I was reading a book by a Buddhist teacher named Tick-Not-Hon called the Heart

of the Buddha's Teaching and one of the practices suggested in the book was to take a day of silence.

So one day on my way to high school I decided to be silent for the entire day. There was no plan

or motive except curiosity. Throughout the day my peers and teachers reacted with confusion

at best and anger at worst. I remember sitting in math class and writing a note to my teacher

about my silence and she just rolled her eyes inside. Fellow students started teasing me and

eventually they started throwing plastic bottles. I remember feeling lonely and sad and just wishing

...