01/27/2026
✍ Walking Through All Conditions - Our walk takes us through sun and rain, dry roads and wet, through snow and warmth, through noise and blessed silence, through crowds and quiet solitude. Some days are gentle and kind. Some days ask more of us than we expected. Some days surprise us with unexpected beauty or unexpected challenges.
And isn't this just like all our lives?
There are times when everything flows smoothly, when the path ahead feels clear and our steps feel light. And there are times—perhaps some of us are facing this right now—when the road feels rough, when obstacles keep appearing, when we feel cold or tired or uncertain about what comes next, making it hard to take even one more step.
The weather of our lives changes without asking permission. Sunny moments give way to storms we didn't see coming. Ease gives way to struggle. Joy and difficulty sit side by side in our hearts. We cannot control these shifts, no matter how hard we try. We cannot demand that life only bring us gentle days.
But here is what we can do, and it changes everything: we can choose the path of peace for our minds, even when our circumstances feel anything but peaceful.
When we make this choice—when we gently commit to being mindful with our breath and our daily actions, when we practice being present instead of fighting what is—we discover something that feels like grace. We find a peace within that the changing conditions cannot shake, cannot steal, cannot destroy.
The rain still falls, but we are not swept away by it. The rough path still asks us to be brave, but we do not lose who we are. The noise still surrounds us, but we are not drowned by it. Because beneath all of it, there is something in us that remains steady, quiet, whole.
This is the peace that lives beneath all circumstances. It doesn't depend on perfect weather or smooth roads. It doesn't require everything to go our way. It simply asks that we show up for ourselves with kindness and mindfulness, breathe as consciously as we can, and meet whatever comes with gentleness instead of harsh judgment.
Life will bring sun and rain—that is simply its nature. But peace—true, lasting peace—is not found in controlling the weather around us or within us. It's found in learning to walk through all of it with minds that stay as grounded as we can, hearts that try to stay open, and spirits that whisper to us on the hardest days: this too shall pass, and we are still here, still breathing, still whole, still capable of choosing peace.
We are stronger than we know. And peace is closer than we think.
May you and all beings be well, happy, and at peace.
