The Cause of Suffering Right Now

What causes suffering? An ancient question with an ancient answer, and surprisingly, it’s not the hard things in life. It’s the way we think about them.It’s not the ridiculous amount of work on my plate or the unfair judge that causes suffering. It’s not the impossible partner or the associate who’s always late. It’s not even the scary diagnosis, or the fact that we’ll all get a scary diagnosis some day. It’s the way we push back, internally, against it all – or the way I do, anyway. The way the mind relates to difficulty as if it shouldn’t be happening. Or the way, when something is good, I want more, or I want the other good thing, or I want them both.It's all that wanting, that desire; the exhaustion, at least for me, of wanting things to be different than they are. Not in the systemic or political sense – to me, it’s good to want change in that sense – but in the moment. In the moment – in this breath – when, really, I know: right now, things can only be just as they are.