Do I prefer to grow up and relate to life directly, or do I choose to live and die in fear?
Pema ChodronWe feel that we have to be right so that we can feel good... The whole right and wrong business closes us down and makes our world smaller.
Pema ChodronThe next time you lose heart and you canโt bear to experience what youโre feeling, you might recall this instruction: change the way you see it and lean in. Instead of blaming our discomfort on outer circumstances or on our own weakness, we can choose to stay present and awake to our experience, not rejecting it, not grasping it, not buying the stories that we relentlessly tell ourselves. This is priceless advice that addresses the true cause of sufferingโyours, mine, and that of all living beings.
Pema ChodronRather than becoming more relaxed, you start pulling down the shades and locking the door. When you do go out, you find the experience more and more unsettling and disagreeable. You become touchier, more fearful, more irritable than ever. The more you try to get it your way, the less you feel at home.
Pema Chodron