Words of Wisdom from the Dalai Lama

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I'm not a religious person.

Yesterday, however, I was really struggling with frustrations at work that were bringing me down and making me anxious.  I opened up my Twitter and saw a post from one of my friends retweeting words from the Dalai Lama's official Twitter.

I have always admired Tibetan Buddhism.  There was a monastery near my high school, and also a large Tibetan Cultural Center in town.  Bloomington even boasts TWO Tibetan restaurants, was home to the Dalai Lama's eldest brother  (until his death in 2008), and is often a destination for His Holiness when he visits the U.S.  From the colorful robes to the sand mandalas, their presence in Bloomington always fascinated me.  My cross country team would run by the monastery and see the monks playing basketball!

I was down in the dumps yesterday.  Nothing was going right for me, nothing according to plan.  When I opened up the Dalai Lama's Twitter, suddenly I was inundated with positive messages and simple truths that really helped me...  here are a few words of wisdom!  (It was SO hard to choose so few!)  Maybe they will help you like they helped me.

"The point of our existence is that, as human beings, we live purposeful, meaningful lives."

"Enemies teach us inner strength, courage and determination."

"The practice of love can be expressed in one sentence: ‘Do not harm others’."

"The more contact we have with one another and the more we come to understand each other’s values, the greater will be our mutual respect."

"You must not consider tolerance and patience to be signs of weakness. I consider them signs of strength."

"All good qualities must be sown and cultivated. We can’t expect to change overnight from an ordinary person into one with high realizations."

And just one more... "To control negative physical and verbal actions, it is necessary to get at their root, the mind, and tame it."