The essence of bravery is being without self-deception.

Being satisfied with what we already have is a magical golden key to being alive in a full, unrestricted, and inspired way.

If we run a hundred miles an hour to the other end of the continent in order to get away from the obstacle, we find the very same problem waiting for us when we arrive. It just keeps returning with new names, forms, manifestations until we learn whatever it has to teach us about where we are separating ourselves from reality, how we are pulling back instead of opening up, closing down instead of allowing ourselves to experience fully whatever we encounter, without hesitating or retreating into ourselves.

Once you create a self-justifying storyline, your emotional entrapment within it quadruples.

If you ask why we meditate, I would say it's so we can become more flexible and tolerant to the present moment.

Well, it starts with being willing to feel what we are going through. It starts with being willing to have a compassionate relationship with the parts of ourselves that we feel are not worthy of existing on the planet. If we are willing through meditation to be mindful not only of what feels comfortable, but also of what pain feels like, if we even aspire to stay awake and open to what we're feeling, to recognize and acknowledge it as best we can in each moment, then something begins to change.

If you follow your heart, you're going to find that it is often extremely inconvenient.