Our lives will never be perfect here in samsara.

Striving to become a better person, trying to follow the guidance we receive, we can become frustrated when running into obstacles and seeming contradictions. At such a point, we can become discouraged. Why are our good actions failing to produce good results? And why haven’t we progressed further? Because change takes time. It takes patience and hard work to remain focused on our vow to end suffering and attain lasting happiness.

There will always be obstacles in samsara. As the warning goes, “Good work, more trouble.”

Our sincerely trying to improve does not eliminate our karmic consequences. Nor will obstacles just go away, allowing us to progress smoothly in our practice. Nothing is easy here in samsara. Neither is there perfection. Accepting this will help us to be resilient, to keep plugging away, when we encounter seemingly insurmountable obstacles.

The obstacles are temporary, and as long as we do not give up, they will be overcome.

When encountering an onerous situation,

what matters is what we choose to think and do.

For all those who know this and have no trouble ignoring situations that distract or frustrate you, I have good news. You get to skip today’s lesson!

For the rest of us, let’s proceed with our blatantly obvious—but really difficult to pull-off—piece of advice.

So, the past is over. Okay.

We can’t fix it. Understood.

All we can do is learn and move on. Got this one, too.

Then what’s our problem? We can’t let go!

We can’t dismiss the grievances, guilt, embarrassment, all the painful memories that seemingly arise from out of nowhere. Just when things are going well and we feel happy, they resurface. And once again, we get carried away, unable to stop an all-too-familiar runaway train of thoughts that appears more regularly than the bullet trains of Japan.

But let go we must. Every single moment, at every turn. Whether the memory is an upsetting one or a good one. Just keep letting go, gently, but firmly. And with persistence! Things will get better.