"Make your plate look like a Christmas tree," I tell people, "mostly green with splashes of other bright colors."

Every person you see has stories, and every person you see has a few that would break your heart. We deserve each other's respect simply because we've survived all we have and kept going anyway.

If you've ever tried meditation and didn't stay with it, I recommend you try it again. Some time has passed. In the interim, you may have developed the discipline of mind or the patience you were short on before. Let these qualities aid your practice. (173)

Happiness comes from accepting the present situation, whether it is something you wish to savor as long as possible or change as quickly as you can. Neither is possible without acceptance as the starting point, because without acceptance you are living on the periphery of your life. There at the edges, you can't fully enjoy the good stuff or do anything about the rest.

I have to strive to go two steps forward and realize that, sometimes, there will be one step back.

If you celebrate your differentness, the world will, too. It believes exactly what you tell it.

Let other people do it their way. What other people do is irrelevant.