no fixing

...she was philosophical about my moods. Sadness didn’t worry
her. On those occasions when I said, “But I’m not happy!” she
would say, “Where is it written that you are supposed to happy
all the time?”

I don’t remember this comment as a rebuke. I think of it now as
my introduction to the first of the Four Noble Truths of the
Buddha. Life is difficult because things change. Change means
loss and disappointment. Bodies and relationships are, from time
to time, painful. I was reassured by my grandmother’s response. I
didn’t feel I was making a mistake by feeling sad, and she didn’t
feel obliged to fix me.


Sylvia Boorstein