When we are at peace with ourselves
we are more apt to greet challenges
as friends,
and the swords of others’
disagreement
and the arrows of their misunderstanding
can become flowers of awakening
in our own minds.
The work is not in changing
the people in our lives
so that we might enjoy them more,
the work is in knowing
the bright core of our changeless presence
and remembering
our inherent goodness
that we may awaken
to the simple joy
that is always there.