So many of us live with an underlying sense that we are not enough.
We believe that if only we were smarter, more disciplined, or more lovable, we’d finally be at peace.
Yet the real prison is not our imperfections, but the belief that we should be perfect.
Tara Brach, Radical Acceptance
We usually take ourselves too seriously;
This is one way the self fools us.
Most of us understand that life is bigger than the little “me” that bars the way to ease, freedom, peace, confidence, faith and so on.
Ajahn Sundara, Seeing the Silliness of Me
Can apply to all moods and emotions.
Anger is no more mine
than is the breeze on my skin
or the sound of a dog barking across the street.
Ajahn Amaro
I cannot tell if what the world considers ‘happiness’ is happiness or not.
All I know is that when I consider the way they go about attaining it,
I see them carried away headlong, serious and obsessed,
in a general rush,
unable to stop themselves or to change their direction.
And all the while they claim to be
just on the point of attaining happiness….
Chuang-tzu, Chinese philosopher, 4th century BC
What a gift when we can finally make peace with ourselves.
It is time to apply some self-acceptance whenever we find ourselves trying to impress others, wondering whether we’re good enough, or trying too hard to say the right thing.
Melody Beattie
I never tire of birdsong and sky and weather.
Stanley Kunitz 1905 – 2006, American Poet
See with every turning day,
how each season makes a child
of you again, wants you to become
a seeker after rainfall and birdsong,
David Whyte, Coleman’s Bed
Mindfulbalance 