“A further sign of health is that we don't become undone by fear and trembling, but we take it as a message that it's time to stop struggling and look directly at what's threatening us.”
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“Life is glorious, but life is also wretched. It is both. Appreciating the gloriousness inspires us, encourages us, cheers us up, gives us a bigger perspective, energizes us. We feel connected. But if that's all that's happening, we get arrogant and start to look down on others, and there is a sense of making ourselves a big deal and being really serious about it, wanting it to be like that forever. The gloriousness becomes tinged by craving and addiction. On the other hand, wretchedness--life's painful aspect--softens us up considerably. Knowing pain is a very important ingredient of being there for another person. When you are feeling a lot of grief, you can look right into somebody's eyes because you feel you haven't got anything to lose--you're just there. The wretchedness humbles us and softens us, but if we were only wretched, we would all just go down the tubes. We'd be so depressed, discouraged, and hopeless that we wouldn't have enough energy to eat an apple. Gloriousness and wretchedness need each other. One inspires us, the other softens us. They go together.”
― Start Where You Are: A Guide to Compassionate Living
― Start Where You Are: A Guide to Compassionate Living
“The less you respond to rude, critical, argumentative people...the more peaceful your life will become.”
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“True strength is knowing that you don't have to be strong every single second of the day.”
― The Single Woman–Life, Love, and a Dash of Sass: Embracing Singleness with Confidence
― The Single Woman–Life, Love, and a Dash of Sass: Embracing Singleness with Confidence
“The most fundamental aggression to ourselves, the most fundamental harm we can do to ourselves, is to remain ignorant by not having the courage and the respect to look at ourselves honestly and gently.”
― When Things Fall Apart: Heart Advice for Difficult Times
― When Things Fall Apart: Heart Advice for Difficult Times
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