Being responsible for the smooth running of our websites is a barrel load of laughs at times. In the last few days, we have been getting service outage alerts about every fifteen minutes from the company that monitors the sites for us. Whilst it is good to know that something is amiss, once you know about it, and know that there is rather little that can be done internally, it all gets a little ‘old news’.
Challenges are put before us to test us. To allow us to take up that challenge and work with it to make ourselves stronger. When, however, that challenge goes on day and night for days on end, your spirits start to flag as you begin to feel the lack of decent sleep taking hold.
This is where the Nichiren secret weapon of Nam Myoho Renge Kyo comes in handy. Chanting really does boost the energy levels and puts a spring back in your step. By my reckoning, half an hours chanting, at lunchtime, on the way to or from work, or in the short periods of stillness in the evening, is as good as a couple of hours decent sleep.
So, as you might imagine, I have been finding a quiet corner in my lunch hour and ignoring the strange looks I get in the car, so I can recharge my batteries with copious amounts of chanting. Though I can’t actually say that the accompanying prayers have an instant effect in an IT environment, boosting my practice at such times certainly does invigorate and rejuvenate my spirits. That has to be a good thing for all concerned.
Well here we are again folks, another week older and deeper in debt, or so a poor paraphrase of the song would go. Another day spent in Newbury has taken us a lot closer to completing the repair of Fraser’s and me a day nearer to getting my Bumble back.
This little software issue is taxing the best brains in our partner company, it looks like a really simple problem, but it’s more tenacious than a Jack Russell with a stick. 
Well that was not a day I care to remember. It started with a ‘dressing down’ from the boss, partly for something that was non of my own doing but mostly for something I hadn’t done. That was closely followed by a number of painful email and telephone conversations, fire-fighting issues over which I have little or no control, caused by malfunctions which are beyond my control.
Looking back at the events of the past few months, I have issued myself a warning not to rest on my laurels. Buddhist practice is like a dog, for life, not just for Christmas, and must be part of your very being. 
The morning had started so well, that pesky virus that the boss had brought into the office had appeared to have been defeated and I was feeling great. My morning auto chant had been followed by a short phone call to Bumble and all was right with the world.
Life is punctuated by a series of problems and challenges, but what is the real difference between them? Generally speaking we call situations we can deal with, challenges, and those we fear we cannot deal with, problems. But actually, the difference is in our own heads and depends more on our life-state at the time the situation arises.
The Search For Enlightenment 
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