Here’s your opportunity to take charge in your life. You act kindly because it’s your choice. You’re generous because it’s your choice. You’re virtuous, you meditate, because it’s your choice.

"When you think about that passage, that there’s no one in charge, what it means is that here’s your opportunity to take charge in your life. It carries responsibilities. You have to be honest. But it also brings a lot of freedom. On a very deep level, there’s nobody out there you have to please. You act kindly because it’s your choice. You’re generous because it’s your choice. You’re virtuous, you meditate, because it’s your choice.

So take full advantage of your freedom. Really appreciate the fact that we are free to choose, and that that freedom can lead to a freedom going beyond simply the freedom to choose. Absolute freedom, absolutely unlimited: That’s the happiness the Buddha promises. But you can find it only if you take charge."

~ Thanissaro Bhikkhu "Taking Charge"

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