When we descend all the way down to the bottom of loss, and dwell patiently, with an open heart, in the darkness and pain, we can bring back up with us the sweetness of life and the exhilaration of inner growth. When there is nothing left to lose, we find the true self - the self that is whole, the self that is enough, the self that no longer looks to others for definition, or completion, or anything but companionship on the journey.

Our errors and failings are chinks in the heart's armor through which our true colors can shine.

...approach change with an understanding of the process and an openness to the pain.

Rumi called his teacher "the friend." And that's what we need. We need friends.

What wants to live in you may be waiting...at the end of a long loneliness.

When the fire is over, always, in the ashes, our opportunities to repair, to move forward without vengeance being required - that's kind of the way us humans seem to live. We make massive mistakes. We do stupid things. We do things to survive. And then there's an opportunity to learn from them and move forward with grace. And forgiveness and that gracefulness are very connected.

It's like you trade the virility of the body for the agility of the spirirt.