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. This week, we asked you to share what makes you feel empowered in your daily life.

It might not be a huge surprise, but lots of folks said chanting was the key to feeling empowered each day.

What might be surprising to some of you is that the second most common response

was about facing challenges and feeling accomplished. For example, checking things off of your to-do

list, or in my case, successfully waking up on time and getting to chant in the morning before I go to

work. I don't know about you, but I have trouble getting stuff done.

When I'm slacking in my Buddhist practice, I find that it's all around harder to challenge

myself, whether that's just doing my laundry, giving 100% to work, or even having a tough

conversation.

Today's guest, Christopher Robin Donaldson of Denver, Colorado, shares how he went from someone

resigned to a passive life to a person of action who made his youthful dreams a reality.

And a quick note, today's episode has brief mentions of suicide, so please take care when

you're listening.

My name is Christopher Robin Donaldson. I have a very long first name, Christopher

Robin. Two words, first name. That's what I go by. I live in Denver, Colorado. For work,

I'm an actor and writer and also a theater teacher. I also work part-time as a pharmacy technician

at a hospital near downtown Denver. It's great to have you on the podcast. I'm really excited to hear

about your story. You know, if you could just tell me a little bit about kind of who you were growing up,

what your life was like, and who you

were before you started your Buddhist practice. Yeah, so I was born in Portland, Oregon,

...