Aspiration, Secret Evil and Strength

today i heard something that potentially was very sad...there is this man my parents know, whose daughter was gravely ill...i think she was in a US hospital...n the father was supposed to go see her, but he suddenly came down w a mild stroke...he couldn't fly to US n by the time he was okay enough to go, his daughter had passed away...his wife has a muscle disease which causes her muscles to weaken and she was also given only about 9 months more to live...when i heard the story, all i could think of was how sorry i felt for that man...it is true...one who learns the dhamma can say that this is due to vipakkha karma (effect caused by actions done previously)...but at the same time, one also can't help but think that no one deserves something like this to happen to them...it reminds me of my friend's story, whose both parents also passed away, leaving her alone and she fends for herself...i admire her strength, her calmness, her courage to face life in such adversity..

while coming back home from dinner, we saw a woman on crutches, although she had both her legs, but it seems that it was inconvenient for her to use one of her legs...this began the topic of conversation about how difficult life was for people who had to live in wheelchairs..my mom tells us that she read an article about how one university student went to a disabled home to work, n how he was so awed by the amount of courage, perseverance and strength these people had in facing their daily life. The simple act of walking, and going to the toilet was such a challenge from them, yet they still live on, still take life on...it is truly amazing and they should be the ones that be looked up to.

all this has reminded me of a mission that i have for myself. that is that i am able to help people some day...and im not just asking for help in the sense like superficially...but i want to be able to make a change, to impact people's lives and to reach deep into their hearts...i aspire to be a great dhamma teacher some day...to help people...but I'll start small, as this simple children's dhamma teacher, i will do my best to teach them to become better people...to be their friend when they need someone to talk to...to be their guide when their lost...to be their coach and inspiration to become great people that may even help make the world a better place in the future! =)

these things also thought me 2 lessons,
1. life is short, life is unpredictable, life is suffering. every moment, every day we have, is a gift...we never know where life will take us, and there are too many possibilities of what could or could not happen to us. therefore, as someone who worries a lot, its time to tell myself that worrying is fruitless as there are too many things that can happen..what i can do is to use this moment to help someone, help myself...and this will make life much more pleasant and much more worth living! do no secret evil and be open and good!!! and thus i would deserve the be a student of the dhamma!!
2. life is full of suffering. but we can view suffering as 2 things. firstly, we can say that it should not happen and that we SHOULD be enjoying pleasures and that I SHOULD deserve better, we reject the suffering, we fight it, we don't want it...and we suffer to pains, the initial pain and the pain of not wanting the initial pain. OR we could just accept that life is not perfect, that we are destined for this pain, we just do the best we can with what we have. thus, we feel only one pain, the initial pain..which as we know the universal law is IMPERMANENT...this too shall pass...this too shall pass...so stay STRONG! COURAGEOUS! PERSEVERE THROUGH THICK AND THIN!!! There is nothing we can't do!! so YEAAAAAAAAAAA!!! its as i said previously, we gain strength from acceptance...so ACCEPT!!