So be gentle with yourself; show yourself the same kindness and patience you might show a young child - the child you once were. If you won’t be your own friend, who will be? If, when playing an opponent, you are also opposing yourself, you will be outnumbered.
Dan MillmanIf you don't get what you want, you suffer; if you get what you don't want, you suffer; even when you get exactly what you want, you still suffer because you can't hold on to it forever.
Dan MillmanAs poet-philosopher Rabindranath Tagore reminds us, "We cannot cross the sea merely by staring at the water." Simplicity has power. And living on purpose comes to this: Just do it. How much simpler can we get?
Dan MillmanThe quality of your moments produces the quality of your life. So, as thoughts come and go and the waves of mind rush on, Carpe punctum-Seize this moment. It deserves your full attention, for it will not pass your way again.
Dan MillmanWake up! If you knew for certain you had a terminal illness--if you had little time left to live--you would waste precious little of it! Well, I'm telling you...you do have a terminal illness: It's called birth. You don't have more than a few years left. No one does! So be happy now, without reason--or you will never be at all.
Dan MillmanFaith means living with uncertainty - feeling your way through life, letting your heart guide you like a lantern in the dark.
Dan MillmanYou don't have to control your thoughts; you just have to stop letting them control you.
Dan MillmanOur sense of self-worth is the single most important determinant of the health, abundance, and joy we allow into our lives.
Dan MillmanIf you desire to dig a well to reach water, your efforts are more fruitful if you dig one 100-foot-deep hole than if you dig ten holes each 10 feet deep.
Dan MillmanSometimes I look back and think, "How did I write that? The book is smarter than I am!" I have never written strategically, but rather, followed the dictates of my muse.
Dan MillmanWhen you release your expectations that the world should fulfill you, your disappointments vanish.
Dan MillmanA flash of enlightenment offers a preview of coming attractions, but when it fades, you will see more clearly what separates you from that state - your compulsive habits, outmoded beliefs, false associations, and other mental structures. Just when our lives are starting to get better, we may feel like things are getting worse - because for the first time we see clearly what needs to be done.
Dan MillmanOur practices - our most spiritual practices - are hanging laundry on the line, raising children, building strong relationships, practicing kindness as much as we can, striving for excellence in the workplace, and developing deeper self-knowledge. I wrote The Four Purposes of Life to assist in these endeavors.
Dan MillmanA jet plane cannot mow the lawn, but it can fly to distant destinations. Don't worry so much about what you can't do; just do what you can as only you can do it.
Dan MillmanSimplicity has power. Founding our life on constructive, positive behavior is the simplest, most direct, and powerful approach I've ever found-simple, but not easy.
Dan MillmanNo amount of knowledge will nourish or sustain your spirit, it can never bring you ulimate happiness or peace. Life requires more that knowledge; it requires intense feeling and constant energy. Life demands right action if knowledge is to come alive.
Dan MillmanFaith is the recognition that Spirit works in, as and through each and all of us - through every person and every circumstance.
Dan MillmanThe universe does not judge us; it only provides consequences and lessons and opportunities to balance and learn through the law of cause and effect. Compassion is the recognition that we are each doing the best we can within the limits of our current beliefs and capacities.
Dan MillmanAllow rather than resist what arises in the present moment-inside or out. Let it be interesting rather than good or bad.
Dan MillmanEmbrace the higher truth that everything comes to pass exactly as it should. Find peace and wisdom by accepting what is.
Dan MillmanMay you find grace as you surrender to life. May you find happiness, as you stop seeking it. May you come to trust these laws and inherit the wisdom of the Earth. May you reconnect with the heart of nature and feel the blessings of Spirit.
Dan MillmanYour fears are not walls, but hurdles. Courage is not the absence of fear, but the conquering of it.
Dan MillmanLife is not suffering; it's just that you will suffer it, rather than enjoy it, until you let go of your mind's attachments and just go for the ride freely, no matter what happens.
Dan MillmanThe first step to change,... is accepting your reality right now. Honoring your process. Compassionate self-awareness leads to change; harsh self-criticism only holds the pattern in place, creating a stubborn and defensive Basic Self. Be gentle with yourself as you would with a child. Be gentle but firm. Give yourself the space to grow. But remember that the timing is in god's hands, not yours. page~147
Dan MillmanFear is like a little garden spider that makes us jump back or the poor lost bee on the steering wheel that we blame for our automobile wreck. The problem in fear is our response - the way we treat animals or insects that frighten us. . . . Fear is also the universal scapegoat we blame when we take flight from intimacy or shrink up inside ourselves in a thousand little ways.
Dan MillmanThe seasons do not push one another; neither do clouds race the wind across the sky. All things happen in their own good time.
Dan Millman...when you resist what happens, your mind begins to race; the same thoughts that impinge upon you are actually created by you.
Dan MillmanLife has three rules: Paradox, Humor, and Change. - Paradox: Life is a mystery; don't waste your time trying to figure it out. - Humor: Keep a sense of humor, especially about yourself. It is a strength beyond all measure - Change: Know that nothing ever stays the same.
Dan MillmanPeople love miracle stories and dramatic moments of transcendence or transformation, and may then pursue their own dramatic "awakenings."
Dan MillmanAction is stronger than subjectivity. No matter what you feel or think, you can still act.
Dan MillmanThoughts naturally arise. The point of meditation is not to banish thoughts but to make peace with them by realizing their lack of substance.
Dan MillmanThere is no path to Happiness. Happiness is the path. There is no path to Love. Love is the path. There is no path to Peace. Peace is the path.
Dan MillmanFaith is the courage to live your life as if everything that happens does so for your highest good and learning. Like it or not.
Dan MillmanMy life has been less like a light switch suddenly turning on, and more like a dimmer switch slowly turned up, over time, more in some moments than others.
Dan MillmanPeaceful warriors have the patience to wait until the mud settles and the water clears. They remain unmoving until the right time, so the right action arises by itself. They do not seek fulfillment, but wait with open arms to welcome all things.
Dan Millman