Point Three of the Seven Points

Point Three – Transforming Adversity into the Path of Awakening

            I have an elderly neighbor who takes delight in items most other people would throw out. In his hands, a scrap piece of wood becomes a wheel for a wheel-less wheelbarrow. An old broom handle is converted into a walking stick. A cracked, terra-cotta pot is turned upside-down to create a toad abode. Like my resourceful neighbor, Point Three involves transforming what we'd normally attempt to get rid of into something useful. Slogans 11 - 16 aid us in dealing with situations that trigger our emotional reactions. These slogans are tools for teaching patience, enabling us to be present with “what is” without flying off the handle and making things worse. We develop the capacity, as Norman Fischer explains, "to welcome difficulty when it comes with a spirit of strength, endurance, forbearance and dignity rather than fear, anxiety and avoidance."