Lesson from Prince Harry: Don't Quit.

Here's to the beginning of fall, a real turning point in terms of what we'll be faced with in the coming few months. I hope your weekend was great. Labor Day weekend this year was pretty nice all over, despite flood waters in Louisiana, a few tropical depressions in the Atlantic and forest fires started by human error. But overall, even the national news was positive.

It was nice to see how Britain's Prince Harry reintroduced himself to society after his Las Vegas adventures. As he greeted children representing his charity , he flashed a wry grin. He is so much his mother's son--I'm totally smitten by him. I can't imagine standing before a child even as my naked photos were splashed across media outlets all around the globe. But I learned something positive from his courage. What I learned from his sense of composure is, If someone with a pristine reputation such as his can be so betrayed, exposed, violated, and yet stand before the world and give a smile, I can find courage to keep going when everything seems impossible and the going seems to last forever. I can find the courage to tell myself, "Don't quit."

Life is challenging,for sure, but "it takes the bitter and the sweet to make a life complete" or so my mother, Ms. Essie, used to say. Christian and Buddhist doctrines teach us to accept the good and the bad as equally powerful and equally significant when it comes to accomplishing our goals and living a positive life. Our "good" experiences offer us encouragement while our "bad" outcomes offer opportunities for improvement, growth and correction. Nothing is perfect, so we need to accept that everything is bittersweet, like a box of chocolates, and if we keep at it, we'll get the one you want.

Buddhist teachings also explain that most suffering comes when we try to hold on to things that were meant to be temporary in our lives. When we hold on instead of letting go, we become fixated, overly challenged, and frustrated. We fail to appreciate the fact that life is duality in which two things exist in a paradoxical balance of two equal forces that keep going on and on in a kind of postive/negative dance. When the going gets tough, we need to focus on this duality which is the foundation of reality. Life is ebb and flow, positive and negative, bitter and sweet, negative and positive. When the going seems too tough, we need to focus on finding and going with the flow. We need to follow one rule of thumb: don't quit.


"Don't Quit"
- Anonymous
When things go wrong, as they sometimes will,
When the road you're trudging seems all uphill,
When the funds are low and the debts are high,
And you want to smile, but you have to sigh,
When care is pressing you down a bit,
Rest, if you must, but don't you quit.

(excerpt from Best Loved Poems of the American People)