The Secret To Happiness Is Self-Acceptance

Three Transformative Steps From Buddha and The Bible

I’ve always loved this verse from the Bible that I learned as a small child but I admit I didn’t always understand it: “Whatever your hands are given to do, do with all your might.” Ecclesiastes 9:10

As a child I would huff and puff and try very hard. Things still didn’t always turn out the way I wanted, hoped or dreamed about.

I’ve tried to do my best throughout life, but it was when I learned I am enough just as I am and that my work ethic learned as a child would at times move mountains that I finally learned to relax. Imperfections, after all, are part of being human. The act of believing in myself took practice and the results came in the form of greater patience and determination. Then, when it was my time, it was perseverance that turned many of my dreams into a shining reality.

I had faith that what my hands — or my desire — were given to do was coming from what I was most interested in, loved with all my heart and stayed passionate about that made it all fall into place. I experienced value in the form of satisfaction, achievement and purpose.

Although action was necessary, it was the gentle consistency of daily steps more than the idea of ‘blowing the house down’ effort that brought me the results I was seeking.

The Buddha sets transformation in motion in an effortless way: