This is the fifth in my series of happiness interviews and it's one of the best!
We all encounter loss in our lives. Some are very unfortunate and lose parents or close family members early on. Others suffer losses later in their lives and they certainly don't get any easier.
Loss isn't only experienced with passings. We've all experienced loss when a relationship ends. Or we can lose other things that are important to us – friendships, colleagues, jobs can fall by the wayside without anybody passing.
People go away and we miss them. Our experiences of life change and we miss the old times. Afterall, wasn't it the Buddha who said all human life is suffering because we cling onto the impermanent? Well, all life is impermanent so we better get ready for a whole heap of suffering.
Not so, says, Bill Stafford.
I spent 40 very pleasant minutes talking to Bill this afternoon. Well, it was my afternoon here in London, I don't know what ungodly hour Bill had to wake for this interview. I'm afraid I'd thought he was on the East Coast but Bill's practice is in southern California. Anyway, he assured me he was energized and ready to go!
Bill has had to deal with – I think I can say – more than his fair share of grief in his life. And I don't want to minimize what Bill went through by that somewhat flippant remark. However, you would have to listen to the interview to hear Bill explain in his own words several poignant moments in his life where Bill suffered some losses that must have been terribly hard to take.
However, these losses eventually taught Bill something. In fact, they taught Bill one of the greatest lessons anyone could learn. And, that is...
Whatever's going on is for my growth and learning
This represents a huge shift in consciousness. From feeling sorry for the seemingly random and unfair life experiences we live through to viewing everything as something you can and are meant to learn from.
Life becomes a marvellously interesting thing to experience. But Bill explains this in greater detail in the interview and I would urge you to listen to the interview for a greater understanding of Bill's philosophy.