Lojong 13: Be Grateful to Everyone

This is part 13 in my series on Lojong, Buddhist mind training lessons.If we look at the people in our lives that we don't like, we likely can see what parts of ourselves we do not accept. Those people that we find irritating, obnoxious, threatening and other such feelings tend to be mirrors to those qualities that we keep quite hidden. They come into our lives and throw these qualities in our faces. In doing so, they give us the opportunity to accept the quality in them and in turn, in us. As Pema Chodron puts it, " They mirror us and give us the chance to befriend all of that ancient stuff that we carry around like a backpack full of boulders."We all have people that trigger strong emotions. If we examine what it is about them that triggers us we can start to figure out why we're affected so strongly and make peace with it. All situations teach us something, especially the tough ones. So be grateful to everyone involved; they are helping you to become more accepting and compassionate with yourself.