I was always mad until someone told me I didn’t need to be

Happiness is a choice, not a result. Nothing will make you happy until you choose to be happy. No person will make you happy unless you decide to be happy. Your happiness will not come to you. It can only come from you.

Often people attempt to live their lives backwards: they try to have more things, or more money, in order to do more of what they want so that they will be happier. The way it actually works is the reverse. You must first be who you really are, then do what you really need to do, in order to have what you want.

Never love anyone who treats you as ordinary.

Hurt people hurt people. That’s how pain patterns gets passed on, generation after generation after generation. Break the chain today. Meet anger with sympathy, contempt with compassion, cruelty with kindness. Greet grimaces with smiles. Forgive and forget about finding fault. Love is the weapon of the future.

She stood in the storm, and when the wind did not blow her away, she adjusted her sails.

To the people who love you, you are beautiful already. This is not because they’re blind to your shortcomings but because they see your soul. Your shortcomings then dim by comparison. The people who care about you are willing to let you be imperfect and beautiful, too.

You are valuable because you exist. Not because of what you do or what you have done - but simply because you are.

Your mind is your private sanctuary; do not allow the negative beliefs of others to occupy it.

One of the most tragic things I know about human nature is that all of us tend to put off living. We are all dreaming of some magical rose garden over the horizon - instead of enjoying the roses that are blooming outside our windows today.

Everything that irritates us about others can lead us to an understanding of ourselves.

Each of us inhabits a world fully known only to ourselves.

Be kind to yourself. Stop telling yourself that whatever you are struggling with “should” be easy. If something is hard for you, it is hard for you. There are probably reasons, though those may just be how you are wired. Acknowledge these things. When you finish something hard, be proud! Celebrate a little.

And really, just stop saying “should” to yourself about your thoughts and feelings in any context. You feel how you feel. The things in your head are the things in your head. You can’t change either directly through sheer force of will. You can only change what you do. Stop beating yourself up for who and what you are right now–it isn’t productive. Focus on moving forward.

“How do we communicate from a place of ease, from a place that’s undefended and unguarded, in a way where we’re willing to change as our views change? It may make sense in theory—but is it even possible in real life? Are we really willing to be wrong? How do we stay open and innocent, in the moment, to reality as it presents itself to us?

My teacher used to say, “Stay in beginner’s mind. Never leave beginner’s mind,” because in beginner’s mind, the possibilities are infinite. They’re open. Anything can happen. You’re open to learn anything you need to learn. If your view of something needs to change, you’re open “for it to change. No matter how deeply you’ve seen something, no matter how much you think you know something, stay in beginner’s mind. Don’t get rigid. No matter how great a revelation you may have had, no matter how great an opening in the core and depth of your being, if you stay in innocence, in the mind that’s very light, that never takes its ideas as truth, then there will be a much greater potential for your thoughts, as well as your communications with others, to be naturally inspired.”

Excerpt From: Adyashanti. “Falling into Grace.” Sounds True, 2009-01-01. iBooks.
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