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When you are thoughtful and kind, patient and aware, when you turn towards others, as
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the Buddha turns towards us, even in the midst of pain, these positive qualities exist
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So too, when you are morally outraged, aggrieved and jealous, the world contains such emotions,
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which does the world need more?
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What legacy are you going to leave?
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But wait, you might say, I'm a drop in the ocean compared to corporations, the Murdoch
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press, avaricious media companies competing for our streaming dollars?
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They are a veritable tidal wave compared to one little drop of contentment.
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But as we've learned from NASA, the ocean is made of individual drops and it does not
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remain an ocean forever.
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You can create a new wave, one drop, one breath, one ethical choice at a time.
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Our actions, whether skillful or unskillful, touch lives and environments like the movement
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of water in the atmosphere.
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These acts ripple out and can change the world.
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It may not be easily seen or occur in dramatic ways, but it does leave a trace.
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As an educator, I impact on the lives of others, and they impact on me.
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Sometimes for better, sometimes for worse.
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And you never really know, in all honesty, how you affect others, not unless they tell
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Now, I've actually had ex-students of mine discover me through social media or I'll
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And they have told me exactly how I affected them.
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It's very humbling, actually.
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And in all cases, and I've had a few of them, it was not the powerful lessons I spent
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hours preparing, but the small acts of showing interest or nudging in the right direction.
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In fact, in one particular case, it was a simple act of witnessing them and showing care
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that mattered the most.
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Now some of these people have gone on to become actors or teachers themselves, and they
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have cited my connection with them as one of the reasons for their decision.
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Not the only one, but a factor, a conditioning factor, one among many, one drop in the ocean.
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I don't live on in the hearts of these people, but the awareness and the possibility of
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kindness that I offered them does.
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We hope you enjoyed today's DharmaBate.
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