If we live in the here and now, each moment is a surprise, every instant a new wonder. But it often fails to work this way. Onto the present we superimpose our expectations and opinions, based on the past or future. We meet someone, and we already anticipate what he/she will be like and what they will say.

We are used to thinking in terms of what we can teach our children. Maybe we need to ask ourselves what we may learn from them.

In trusting, we let ourselves go. We know that all kinds of unexpected events may come our way. Our tension eases, our mind and our hearts open spontaneously to be possibilities. It is an ever new state of mind, in the present moment, because we have detached from all we know. But it is also a feeling as old as can be, because, before all betrayals and all disappointments, there was a time in which trusting another was the very substance of our life.

Something similar happens on the other side of the equation: Giving kindness does us as much good as receiving it. . . . The true benefit of kindness is being kind. Perhaps more than any other factor, kindness gives meaning and value to our life, raises us above our troubles and our battles, and makes us feel good about ourselves.

We can proceed according to the planned itinerary, strenuously trying to make life conform to our needs, or we can adapt to whatever we meet and flow without effort.

It's all really very simple. You don't have to choose between being kind to yourself and others. It's one and the same.

The transition from rebellion to acceptance has an extremely important consequence. . . in which we start seeing life as a training school, to teach us what we need to learn.