One of the main discoveries of meditation is seeing how we continually run away from the present moment, how we avoid being here just as we are. - Pema Chödrön

Once we have the fixed idea “this is me,” then we see everything as a threat or a promise — or something we couldn’t care less about.

Generally speaking, we regard discomfort in any form as bad news. But for practitioners or spiritual warriors — people who have a certain hunger to know what is true — feelings like disappointment, embarrassment, irritation, resentment, anger, jealousy, and fear, instead of being bad news, are actually very clear moments that... teach us to perk up and lean in when we feel we’d rather collapse and back away.

It helps to remember that our spiritual practice is not about accomplishing anything — not about winning or losing — but about ceasing to struggle and relaxing as it is.