Our world can be frightening, but running away is never the best answer
Tuesday, October 31st, 2006
By Chris Fitzsimon
Kerra L. Bolton
Pure Politics
You can learn a lot from a Buddhist.
I’m reading “The Places That Scare You: A Guide to Fearlessness in Difficult Times” by Pema Chodron.
Chodron, a Buddhist nun, encourages readers to use meditation as a way to stay with uncomfortable emotions rather than grasping for things to numb or avoid pain.
The world is a scary place. The U.S. death toll in Iraq this month has climbed to 101. An Alabama teenager confessed to raping his own mother. And Whitney Houston, newly emancipated from husband Bobby Brown, has gone blonde.
But I don’t need to travel to experience bone-rattling chills. I have enough to scare me right here in Raleigh. Here’s a partial list of what keeps me up at night:
House speaker’s race: Politics is littered with people who want to be something rather than do something. The six or seven candidates who are publicly angling to be House speaker have various strengths and weaknesses. But none of them strike me as being “the one.”
In these dangerous and difficult times House lawmakers could choose a compromise candidate. Such candidates are like a bag of Halloween candy — you never know what you’re going to get. You’re expecting a jumbo-size Snickers bar only to get a mini-box of Raisinettes.
Mental health reforms: State mental health reforms have seemingly gone from bad to worse, especially with the closing of New Vistas. Local jails and hospital emergency rooms are forced to fill in the gaps where the state promised community or public/private resources. (more…)
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