Sat. 6/27/26

[Debrasue Binzley]

We all want to be happy and there are many books and teachers in 

the world that try to help people be happier. Yet we all continue to suffer.

Therefore, we may think that we’re “doing it wrong.” Somehow we are 

“failing at happiness.” That isn’t true. Being able to enjoy happiness 

doesn’t require that we have zero suffering. In fact, the art of happiness 

is also the art of suffering well. When we learn to acknowledge, embrace, 

and understand our suffering, we suffer much less. Not only that, but 

we’re also able to go further and transform our suffering into 

understanding, compassion, and joy for ourselves and for others.

One of the most difficult things for us to accept is that there is no 

realm where there’s only happiness and there’s no suffering. This 

doesn’t mean that we should despair. Suffering can be transformed. 

As soon as we open our mouth to say “suffering,” we know that the 

opposite of suffering is already there as well. Where there is suffering, 

there is happiness.

-Thich Nhat Hanh