In an age of echo chambers and “personal” truth, it can be hard to hear what’s actually true. We don’t like to hear that we’re wrong or we’ve made a mistake. We hate to hear that we’re contributing to a warming planet or to economic disparity. We don’t want to know where our meat comes from. The truth is often hard to hear—that’s why many of us avoid it. However, we never learn and grow if we always walk around thinking we’re right.

We can easily make a bad day worse by identifying with it. We feed our afflictive emotions like anger and frustration with more thoughts that give them more strength. Or we can just sit with them and let them exhaust themselves. We allow them to visit, but we don’t let themselves move in and take over. Eventually, those clouds move out and we can experience joy again.

People who live in rich nations have pleasurable options within a 6-foot radius. Why would someone sit in meditation when it’s so boring? That’s the point. When we’re continually seeking pleasure and getting stuck on a pleasure-pain cycle, we need time to withdraw from sensation-seeking. Meditation and prayer might not give you the dopamine you want, but it helps balance your brain.

What’s popular on various media channels appeals to our base desires. We see so many leaders promoting values such as power, fame, or money. So few role models of integrity exist. If we don’t have any teachers or role models who can show us how to live with integrity, we must become one of those examples. We can look back to some of the great role models in history, such as Maximus to Marcus Aurelius.

In an excessively distracted society, we find it difficult to quiet our minds. It can be frustrating to sit in meditation or prayer because we have incessant thoughts that peck away our concentration. If we anchor our minds on the breath, a phrase, or even a sound, our pesky thoughts will grow tired. This is training the mind.

It can be hard to get up when you get knocked down so many times. It can be tempting to just stay down and never try again. It’s also tempting to abandon your faith, especially when you see people with no faith faring much better. In Psalm 30, David essentially asks how his rejection glorifies God. He pleads to God to have mercy on him. God then changes his mourning into dancing.

Although I’m attracted to secular orders, I noticed they have a little too much structure for people still working and taking care of families. They also might include body and mind practices to develop the whole person. While I believe structure is necessary in every life, there’s also a need for a bit of fluidity to serve the individual’s unique circumstances and purpose. We need less extremes and more integration if spiritual practices and orders intend to survive.

False prophets aren’t new. So many cults have come and gone claiming to be prophets and apostles of God. They prey on people who have a need to belong, taking their money and making them all the more vulnerable to manipulation. It’s important to be aware of them and discern their message. Does this message resonate with scripture and tradition? Does it seek power? Most of all, is it rooted in love?

So much media tells us to put our needs first. While this can be appropriate in certain circumstances, we get into trouble when we get too consumed with I, me, and my. This puts us in direct conflict with our community and the world. Rather than relinquish the ego, which might seem impossible, adopt a servant perspective. Rather than ask, “what can I get out of this,” we can ask, “what can I give?”

Recalling fond memories of our past can sometimes leave us in a state of yearning, especially when our current circumstances seem troublesome. This state of yearning, clinging, and desperation adds more heaviness to the present moment. It also weighs us as we step into the next moment. Instead, we hold in our minds those feelings of joy, freedom, and peace, allowing them to lighten our emotional load as we move forward.