“Every day is a new opportunity to begin again. Every day is your birthday” (from The Book of Joy by The Dalai Lama and Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Viking Press, 2016).
Both of these men lived through difficult times, and both are spiritual leaders with something to say about how to be happy in a changing and often difficult world. I sensed the love and compassion when I visited Tutu’s church in Cape Town, South Africa, and had the same feeling when I had the privilege of visiting the Dalai Lama’s home base in Dharamshala, India. I once stood in the cell that Nelson Mandela resided in for 27 years, at Robben Island Prison, South Africa- during Apartheid, and I visited Mahatma Gandhi’s home of many years in Mumbai, as well as the prison he was detained in for many years in South Africa- for his leadership in non-violent resistance that we’ve all learned so much from. Mandela and Gandhi remind us that principles are worth dying for, and they can guide us to rise above the challenges of everyday life.

Sometimes, when life’s challenges begin to pile up, I find it comforting to revisit these wise peoples’ writings for some sage guidance and reassurance that things are in fact constantly changing.