MUD

Written By Duane Nelson


2 IDEAS FROM ME

  • Turning suffering into happiness is like composting: pain and hardship, like rotting scraps, may seem miserable at first—but with patience and care, they break down into rich soil, nourishing the roots of joy that would never have grown without them.

  • Overcoming adversity is like bathing in Dead Sea mud—thick, heavy, and clinging to every inch of you. At first, it feels suffocating, like the weight of your struggles won’t let go. But as it dries and you wash it away, you realize it has drawn out impurities, healed wounds, and left your skin renewed. What once seemed like a burden was, in truth, a healing embrace disguised in grit.

2 QUOTES FROM SAGES

  • “No mud, no lotus.”-Thich Nhat Hahn

  • “We all want to be happy and there are many books and teachers in the world that try to help people be happier. Yet we all continue to suffer. Therefore, we may think that we’re “doing it wrong.” Somehow we are “failing at happiness.” That isn’t true. Being able to enjoy happiness doesn’t require that we have zero suffering. In fact, the art of happiness is also the art of suffering well. When we learn to acknowledge, embrace, and understand our suffering, we suffer much less. Not only that, but we’re also able to go further and transform our suffering into understanding, compassion, and joy for ourselves and for others.”-Thich Nhat Hahn

1 QUESTION FOR YOU TO EXPLORE

  • What daily practice helps you transform suffering into understanding, compassion, and joy?

Namaste,

Duane Nelson

Duane Nelson

Ultrajourney Insight is an Anacortes Washington-based non-profit organization providing mindfulness & well-being services designed to ignite the adventure of a lifetime. The founder, Duane Nelson, is a writer, speaker, and teacher with four decades of parenting, wilderness, & international technology leadership. His professional insights come from chemical engineering and automation leadership at Philips, Intel, and Amazon. His adventure insights flow from ultramarathons, mountaineering, canyoneering, and adventure racing in Nepal, Alaska, Colorado, Washington, Oregon, Hawaii, Mexico, British Columbia and Alberta.

https://ultrajourneyinsight.org
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