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

Tara Brach

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.
TARA BRACH

Acceptance Achievement Authentic Difficult Present Self Love
Whatever you encounter, may that be part of the path.
TARA BRACH

Encounter Path Yourself
When we put down ideas of what life should be like, we are free to wholeheartedly say yes to our life as it is.
TARA BRACH

Freedom Heart Ideas Life Ourselves Philosophy
Paying attention is the most basic and profound expression of love.
TARA BRACH

Attention Expression Love Pay
There are some things we can’t choose, but in being present we can choose how we want to relate to them.
TARA BRACH

Choice Present Relate
Feeling compassion for ourselves in no way releases us from responsibility for our actions. Rather, it releases us from the self-hatred that prevents us from responding to our life with clarity and balance.
TARA BRACH

Action Balance Clarity Compassionate Feeling Life Ourselves Responsibility
Mindfulness is a pause – the space between stimulus and response: that’s where choice lies.
TARA BRACH

Choice Lying Mindset Response Space
But this revolutionary act of treating ourselves tenderly can begin to undo the aversive messages of a lifetime.
TARA BRACH

Act Life Message Revolution Tender Time Treat
If our hearts are ready for anything, we are touched by the beauty and poetry and mystery that fill our world.
TARA BRACH

Beautiful Heart Mystery Ourselves Poetry Touch World
People don’t behave in angry ways unless they are feeling stressed and conflicted too.
TARA BRACH

Angry Conflict Feeling People
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.
TARA BRACH

Acceptance Judgement Ourselves Reach Sweet Worth
Pain is not wrong. Reacting to pain as wrong initiates the trance of unworthiness. The moment we believe something is wrong, our world shrinks and we lose ourselves in the effort to combat the pain.
TARA BRACH

Believe Effort Initiate Moments Ourselves Pain Wrong
Awakening self-compassion is often the greatest challenge people face on the spiritual path.
TARA BRACH

Awake Challenge Compassionate Face Path People
Perhaps the biggest tragedy of our lives is that freedom is possible, yet we can pass our years trapped in the same old patterns.
TARA BRACH

Big Freedom Live Old Pattern Tragedy
We wait for things to be different in order to feel okay with life. As long as we keep attaching our happiness to the external events of our lives, which are ever changing, we’ll always be left waiting for it.
TARA BRACH

Change Different Feeling Happiness Life Live Wait
Imperfection is not our personal problem – it is a natural part of existing.
TARA BRACH

Existence Imperfection Natural Personal Problem
There is something wonderfully bold and liberating about saying yes to our entire imperfect and messy life.
TARA BRACH

Bold Imperfection Liberty Life Mess Wonderful
Emotions are the interaction of thoughts and of sensations in the body.
TARA BRACH

Body Emotion InterAction Thinking
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.
TARA BRACH

Act Expectation Kindness Oneself Return
Meditation helps us to get out of our thoughts about the future and really be in the present moment.
TARA BRACH

Future Help Meditation Moments Present Thinking
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.
TARA BRACH

Accompany Drama Feeling Kind Mindset Presence Recognition Training
Through the sacred art of pausing, we develop the capacity to stop hiding, to stop running away from our experience. We begin to trust in our natural intelligence, in our naturally wise heart, in our capacity to open to whatever arises.
TARA BRACH

Arise Art Capacity Development Experience Natural Ourselves Sacred
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.
TARA BRACH

Fear Flaw Live Moments Myself Person Prison Sacrifice Stop
The most powerful healing arises from the simple intention to love the life within you, unconditionally, with as much tenderness and presence as possible.
TARA BRACH

Healing Intention Life Love Possible Powerful Present Simplicity Soft
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.
TARA BRACH

Commitment Fact Habit Judgement Myself Recognition Stop Story Strong
On this sacred path of Radical Acceptance, rather than striving for perfection, we discover how to love ourselves into wholeness.
TARA BRACH

Acceptance Discover Path Perfection Sacred Strive
Observing desire without acting on it enlarges our freedom to choose how we live.
TARA BRACH

Act Choice Desire Freedom Live

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

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

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