Daily Meditation for April 30, 2025

Here is a wisdom statement from the Buddhist tradition: “Every experience, no matter how bad it seems, holds within it a blessing of some kind. The goal is to find it.” We saw examples of this on 9/11 when employees might have been too sick to go to work in the World Trade Center and were blessed to miss that terrible event. Other hidden blessings might be learning a painful truth about ourselves during an experience, discovering someone who unexpectedly stood by us, or loss of a job that forced one to develop new skills that turn out to be valuable. When thinking about painful experiences, it is easy to blame others, to make up excuses, to feel sorry for oneself, or to be angry. How much better to find the hidden blessing within it! Ask yourself: “Have I learned something new? Is there something I need to do differently? In what way am I stronger?”

By Mary Jackle, OSB