You're never given more pain than you can handle. You never, ever get more than you can take.

My life is a contribution.

An uncomfortable feeling is not an enemy. It's a gift that says, "Get honest; inquire." We reach out for alcohol, or television, or credit cards, so we can focus out there and not have to look at the feeling. And that's as it should be, because in our innocence we haven't known how. So now what we can do is reach out for a paper and a pencil, write thought down, and investigate.

One morning in February 1986, out of nowhere, I experienced a realization. In an instant, I discovered that when I believed my stressful thoughts, I suffered, but when I questioned them, I didn't suffer.

I suffered from severe depression for over a decade. My condition deteriorated steadily. I was suicidal.

Rather than understand the original cause-a thought-we try to change the stressful feelings by looking outside ourselves.

A mind that doesn't question its judgements, makes the world very small and dangerous.