“The trance of unworthiness keeps the sweetness of belonging out of reach. The path to “the sweetness of belonging,” is acceptance – acceptance of ourselves and acceptance of others without judgment.”

Self-judgment continues to arise – it’s a strong habit – but the fact that I made a conscious commitment to recognize it has helped me stop feeding the story of being unworthy.

But this revolutionary act of treating ourselves tenderly can begin to undo the aversive messages of a lifetime.

With mindfulness training we are able to recognize when we get lost in our mental dramas, and bring a kind and nonreactive presence to the feelings that accompany them.

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.

On this sacred path of Radical Acceptance, rather than striving for perfection, we discover how to love ourselves into wholeness.

When we open to love, we become love.

Fear of being a flawed person lay at the root of my trance, and I had sacrificed many moments over the years in trying to prove my worth. Like the tiger Mohini, I inhabited a self-made prison that stopped me from living fully.

Perhaps the biggest tragedy of our lives is that freedom is possible, yet we can pass our years trapped in the same old patterns.

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.

Our attitude in the face of life’s challenges determines our suffering or our freedom.

Become a witness to your thoughts.

Happiness lies not in finding what is missing, but in finding what is present.

Radical Acceptance is the willingness to experience ourselves and our lives as it is.

Imperfection is not our personal problem – it is a natural part of existing.

Emotions are the interaction of thoughts and of sensations in the body.

When we relax about imperfection, we no longer lose our life moments in the pursuit of being different and in the fear of what is wrong.

Most days, I am the rain. – And that’s okay.

Sometimes I don’t like my thighs or stomach, but whenever I get caught up in that, I always focus on the fact that I’m healthy now.

The only term I won’t accept is “genius.”

Rock ‘n’ roll accepted me and paid me, even though I loved the big bands I went that way because I wanted a home of my own. I had a family. I had to raise them. Let’s don’t leave out the economics. No way.

It strikes me as bad manners for a magazine to accept one of my advertisements and then attack it editorially – like inviting a man to dinner then spitting in his eye.

Know where you have been, where you are now and where you want to be.

Everybody wants to go to Heaven, but no one wants to die to get there!

The good befriend themselves.