By Pattie Mihalik

I read two quotes from two different sources that both said the said thing. One was Buddha, the other was a radio evangelist.

Buddha said, “Every morning we are born again. What we do today is what matters most.”

Alistair Begg expressed the same thing in a different way, saying he is thankful for our do-over existence. “Every day when we get up we have another fresh start with the chance to do it over again,” he said.

I believe he was making the point that if our day holds disappointment, regret or what we view as failure, we can awake from a sleep refreshed with another chance to do better.

Buddha followed up by reminding us it is what we do today that counts, not what we did yesterday.

No matter how determined one may be, the past cannot be changed. It’s the present that resonates with new possibility. That means it’s the present that should hold our attention.

That’s a simple thought but it’s obviously one some people don’t believe. If they did, why would they stay mired down in the past? It’s as if their past was quicksand, holding them down and keeping them from moving on.

Sometimes we go over in our mind a piece of our past that we wish we could do differently. While no one can erase the past, there is always the gift of the present day to use as we will.

Both Buddha and the church pastor seem to stress the beauty of being able to have a new beginning each new day.

Interestingly, I came across both those quotes in the same week — a week when I was giving praise for a refreshing sleep that allowed me to wake up with new energy and determination.

Since the source of my Buddha quotes is one of the books written by Thich Nhat Hahn, a well-known Zen teacher, I’m fairly sure it’s accurate. Regardless of who said it, some of the quotes seem to resonate with me.

Here’s a short, interesting piece from Hahn’s book in a chapter called Feeding Our Suffering:

The Buddha said, “Nothing can survive without food — not even love. Without nourishment, your love will die. You can learn ways to nourish your love every day so that your love can continue to thrive.

“What kind of food are you feeding your love? When you produce loving thoughts, speech and action, these nourish your love and help it grow strong.

“Suffering also requires food to survive. If you continue to suffer, it’s because you feed your suffering every day.”

I find that thought interesting. Few of us would question the premise that we feed our love for someone through our loving thoughts, speech and actions. We know that we nourish love by doing loving little acts such as cooking a favorite meal or doing special things to show we care.

Once the Zen teacher helps us see how certain actions feed our love, he extends that by helping us understand we also feed our suffering by what we do and what we allow to occupy our mind.

When put that way, I have an easy time understanding that sometimes we do indeed feed our own grief and suffering.

I know people who suffered a misfortune a decade ago but they still talk about it as if it happened yesterday. They let it occupy much of the space in their mind hanging onto their suffering as if it were something to cherish instead of something to overcome.

In the words of the Zen teacher, they keep suffering because they keep feeding that suffering.

Interesting thought, isn’t it?

Maybe that’s why two different people can suffer the same misfortune but one can go on to a rewarding life while the other is still stuck in the suffering stage.

I have a relative whose husband left her 30 years ago. She’s still depressed about it, letting it hamper her potential happiness. I’m sure she doesn’t know she is feeding her misery by continuing to let it occupy a big part of her mind.

A while back I mentioned the old Indian fable about the grandfather teaching his grandson about the two wolves. When the old Cherokee told his grandson a terrible fight between two wolves was going on inside him, the youngster asked which wolf would win.

“The wolf you feed is the one that will win,” the grandfather answered.

In his little essay about feeding your suffering, Thich Nhat Hanh says if we don’t carefully choose what we read, what we listen to, what we do and what we allow to occupy our mind, we may be feeding the wrong wolf.

“If you stop feeding your suffering,” he says, “it will die.

I sometimes write about how careful I am in what I watch on TV, what I read, and with whom I spend my time. That’s because I want to feed the happy, thankful wolf inside me, not the depressed, dissatisfied wolf that overtakes anyone who feeds it.

I have a few favorite internet blogs that serve up small daily doses of uplifting thoughts. Sometimes I find inspiration there. Sometimes, I find thought-provoking, challenging messages.

Today I’m celebrating the fresh new start we each get every day.

Ah, isn’t life grand?

Contact Pattie Mihalik at newsgirl@comcast.net.