Hormones Coming and Going

or Lessons From a Fourth Grade Homework


One of my lovelies had a homework assignment to read and then summarize an essay about a miserable old woman. The woman, totally disgusted with her life seeks out Buddha, and asks for his help. He says, "I will help you, but first you must bring me one mustard seed from anyone that has not known pain or suffering."

The woman goes away happy. Buddha will help her.

Weeks later when Buddha returns, he finds the woman humming and washing clothes by beating them on the rocks of a nearby stream. He asks, "Did you find a mustard seed?"

"No," she sings. "But I discovered that everyone has pain and suffering. And by comparison my life is fine. " Then she asked if she still needed to find that mustard seed because after she washed these clothes for her neighbor there was some other people who could use her help.

"No," Buddha replied. "You have learned your lesson well."


Hormonal waves, are the undercurrents for the chemistry of turning a great day into a battlefield. Some days my daughter is coming, and I'm going. At times, neither one of us paints a joyful picture of life. But now, we have this old woman and her life lesson to think about. And instead of lashing out, what if we reached out to someone else in need? I suspect it would be just enough to turn the hormonal tides in our favor.