Make a Start and Keep It Going

It’s not that things will always feel good—that’s impossible—but as we practice, little by little, our old tendencies start to shift, and new ways of responding get stronger.

Guided by our own wisdom and a wish for freedom, things start to open up. We feel the joy of being aligned with the Path, and we can direct our internal compass to this joy as we navigate our way through the journey of life.

Inevitably we’ll find ourselves off course from time to time. Recognizing that we’ve lost our way gives us an opportunity to realign with our greater intention. And this can be a source of joy.

So, we have to get clear about our greater intention and where we want to go.

Keeping our greater intention in mind, we gather around us whatever supports we can find and ‘make effort with hands and feet’. As we keep going, we’ll find that we’re getting stronger and may even discover a faith and resilience we didn’t know we had. We can never know how our journey is going to unfold, whether it will be arduous or easy, or how long it’s going to last.

All that matters is to make a start on the journey, and to keep going.

This reflection by Ayya Ānandabodhī is from the book, Leaving It All Behind, (pdf) p. 15.