When We Relax About Imperfection, We No

Suffering Is Our Call To Attention, Our Call To Investigate The Truth Of Our Beliefs.

Somewhere In My Early Twenties I Realized I Was Pretty Constantly Monitoring Myself, Judging How I Was Always Falling Short, Whether It Was About Not Being A Good Enough Daughter Or Friend, Or My Appearance, Or Whatever. I Ended Up Becoming Involved With A Spiritual Path In The Yogic Tradition, Living In An Ashram, Doing A Very Rigorous Spiritual Practice.

On This Sacred Path Of Radical Acceptance, Rather Than Striving For Perfection, We Discover How To Love Ourselves Into Wholeness.

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.

Most Of Us Grew Up With A Very Damaging Story That Something Is Wrong With Us. Gradually - Or As In My Case, Suddenly - We Become Resolved Not To Believe This Anymore. It Takes A Dedicated Practice To Follow Up On That Resolution, Because The Conditioning Is Very Strong To Keep Generating Self-demeaning Stories.