I was talking to a friend earlier today.

There are things you can fix. There are things you can’t.

You know how someone can have a problem with himself or herself, but blames you for it. That is not a problem that can be fixed. That is a problem that you have to run away from.

Lately my world seems full of problems. One question I am always asking myself: what did I do to cause this? And a lot of the time I just don’t know. Keeping silent doesn’t seem right. Speaking up seems to go nowhere. Should I say things differently? If so how?

I don’t know. I don’t know. I don’t know.

Lean in to the discomfort and learn from it. I am trying. I don’t know what the lesson is, but it seems to be that there are a lot of things I can’t fix. A lot of things no one can fix.

Life is a lot of suffering. The lesson seems to be that we have to make peace with the suffering. Somehow. It is so hard.

What comfort and happiness can I bring to others in all this? What thanks can I give, what help can I give, what kindness can be accomplished? I think the only route I have for accepting the pain is trying to find some way to make it better, even just a little, for the people in my life.