Stories Can Be A Jumping-off Point To

If It Weren't For Desire, The Formless Would Not Have Come Into Form And Engage Creatively.

Clearly Recognizing What Is Happening Inside Us, And Regarding What We See With An Open, Kind And Loving Heart, Is What I Call Radical Acceptance. If We Are Holding Back From Any Part Of Our Experience, If Our Heart Shuts Out Any Part Of Who We Are And What We Feel, We Are Fueling The Fears And Feelings Of Separation That Sustain The Trance Of Unworthiness. Radical Acceptance Directly Dismantles The Very Foundations Of This Trance.

We Are Uncomfortable Because Everything In Our Life Keeps Changing -- Our Inner Moods, Our Bodies, Our Work, The People We Love, The World We Live In. We Can't Hold On To Anything -- A Beautiful Sunset, A Sweet Taste, An Intimate Moment With A Lover, Our Very Existence As The Body/mind We Call Self -- Because All Things Come And Go. Lacking Any Permanent Satisfaction, We Continuously Need Another Injection Of Fuel, Stimulation, Reassurance From Loved Ones, Medicine, Exercise, And Meditation. We Are Continually Driven To Become Something More, To Experience Something Else.

The Mistake We Make Is That When We're Feeling Another Person Is Not Treating Us In The Way That Makes Us Feel Secure And Loved, We Fixate Our Attention On That Person And What's Wrong With Them. We Also Fixate On What's Wrong With Us. Instead, We Can Bring Forward Two Wings Of Awareness: The Wing Of Mindfulness (noticing What's Going On Inside Us) And The Wing Of Kindness (compassion To What's Going On Inside Us).

Extend An Act Of Kindness Each Day. No One Has To Know. It Can Be A Smile, Reassuring Words, A Small Favor - Without Expecting Something In Return.