Fortune Cookie Friday: Achieving Greatness

I was admiring baby pictures of my kids recently, and it brought a smile to my face. I remember the days of changing diapers, middle-of-the-night feedings, and a general lack of energy from parenting.

When we first enter this world, we are completely helpless and require so much from others. We are selfish and needy, but our parents do their best to keep us from crying.

I find it fascinating that we are so different by the time we are ready to leave this mortal realm. We will our possessions to family and friends, and we share stories of what we learned in life. In many cases, we even refuse to let others help us—almost to a fault.

It’s during the years that we grow and mature that we transform from selfish to selfless. We learn from our parents, teachers, and friends to look less inward and focus more outward.

Our fortune comes from Atisha, an 11th century Tibetan Buddhist Master.

Not only are we to learn about ourselves, but we should master our wants and desires and not be tempted by worldly things if we want to achieve selflessness.

Interestingly, when we are born, we are initially given everything we need to survive. We have food, water, shelter, and hopefully, love. It is out in the world that we discover the things we want.

Turning away from our wants and back to our needs can help us shed the evils of this world. We can then focus on being the best versions of ourselves.