Happiness in this World  Reflections of a Buddhist physician
How to Manage Diminishing Tolerance  How expectation affects our
ability to tolerate frustration.  Photo: Esparta  Every year
around December, my in-laws, who live in the north, do what
thousands of other people do: move to a warmer climate (in their
case, Florida). And though for years I never thought I would do
the same, recently the idea has begun to appeal to me. I'm
finding for the first time that my tolerance for cold weather is
decreasing. I grew up in Chicago, where the brutality of the
winters is matched only by its dwellers' ability to handle them,
and for decades I counted myself among those who were
indifferent to the wind and the cold. But no longer.  Of course,
I don't mean my physical tolerance has declined. I don't find
32ºF colder than I once did. But my willingness to endure it?
It's now a fraction of what it used to be. And it's not just the
cold. It's all things unpleasant to which I'm repetitively
exposed: temper tantrums, rude