In intimate relationships, if we start trying to be more real, it's very scary.

In a basic way, acceptance is seeing clearly what's happening and holding it with kindness. This is a radical antidote to the suffering of judging mind.

Perhaps the biggest tragedy of our lives is that freedom is possible, yet we can pass our years trapped in the same old patterns...We may want to love other people without holding back, to feel authentic, to breathe in the beauty around us, to dance and sing. Yet each day we listen to inner voices that keep our life small.

We're so used to presenting ourselves and getting approval according to our achievements that it's difficult to be authentic and trust that we'll be accepted just as we are.

We can find true refuge within our own hearts and minds-right here, right now, in the midst of our moment-to-momen t lives.

Our kids go to school and they come out feeling not intelligent, not desirable, not attractive or appealing to others.

We are waiting for the next moment to contain what this moment does not.