If you stick with this path long enough — the path of skillful action — you will find good results coming. This is encouraging. It helps overcome apathy. It helps to overcome hopelessness.

"One of the major things [the Buddha] woke to was the principle of action, kamma: that our lives are shaped by our actions. Our happiness, our pains, are shaped by our actions, the intentions on which we act. Having conviction in that fact is a very strengthening thing. On the one hand, it empowers you. You see that you really can shape your life. There may be obstacles that you have to overcome, but if you stick with this path long enough — the path of skillful action — you will find good results coming. This is encouraging. It helps overcome apathy. It helps to overcome hopelessness. And it focuses your attention on the right place: that regardless of the conditions of your life, if you focus on acting skillfully, things are going to improve."

~ Thanissaro Bhikkhu "Beyond Inter-eating"

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