My brain has always worked faster than normal, and faster than is helpful. In some situations, it helps, but in others, it is inefficient. It allowed me to do my work easily, and I never faced any challenges with my work. Because of that fact, instead of being placed in a sixth-grade class at the new school I was going to, I was placed into a seventh-grade class. Imagine how intimidating it is being 11 in a class of 13 and 14-year-olds. Frankly, it was unsettling for my little head. So I sat back. I did some work. Simple. Shortly thereafter, however, I didn’t do work. I procrastinated. And because of my fast-moving brain, I didn’t think of the consequences. On the flip side, it allowed me to pretend I did do it. It was a book group paper, and I procrastinated and abstained from doing it.

Eventually, my teacher found out and then emailed my mom. There were three more problems after that. After this second strain of dishonesty, my dad came to me one day and told me about Buddhism and the teachings of the Buddha.

The eightfold path is one of the central concepts of Buddhism. The Buddha tells us that there are eight steps to achieving enlightenment and Nirvana. They are: Right Understanding, Right Thought, Right Speech, Right Action, Right Livelihood, Right Effort, Right Mindfulness, and Right Concentration. This appealed to me because it was a way of thinking about life as a puzzle. How do I connect Right View to this game? How can I apply Right Concentration to this work? But above all, the one I struggle with the most is Right Livelihood. It tells us to live life without harming ourselves or others. With dishonesty, we harm the trust that others place in us.

As I started to understand the concepts of Buddhism, I started to lean away from dishonesty. As my life went on, I started to get into the habit of meditating. Meditating requires that you not clear your mind, but fill it with whatever is happening around you. It is the practice of being mindful. I slowly became more aware of what I was doing. I stopped being dishonest, and I started coming clean more often. It felt good to be truthful again. Buddhism played a big role in that transformation, and it continues to be a guiding light for me.

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