"The
on-the-spot practice of being fully present, feeling your heart, and
greeting the next moment with an open mind can be done at any time: when
you wake up in the morning, before a difficult conversation, whenever
fear or discomfort arises. This practice is a beautiful way to claim
your warriorship, your spiritual warriorship. In other words, it is a
way to claim your courage, your kindness, your strength. Whenever it
occurs to you, you can pause briefly, touch in with how you're feeling
both physically and mentally, and then connect with your heart-even
putting your hand on your heart, if you want to. This is a way of
extending warmth and acceptance to whatever is going on for you right
now. You might have an aching back, an upset stomach, panic, rage,
impatience, calmness, joy-whatever it is, you can let it be there just
as it is, without labeling it good or bad, without telling yourself you
should or shouldn't be feeling that way. Having connected with what is,
with love and acceptance, you can go forward with curiosity and courage.
I call this step "taking a leap."
- Pema Chodron in, "Living Beautifully with Uncertainty and Change"