What if we slowed down and appreciated our sameness? The fact that we’re all in this together. That we share a common humanity.

“Self kindness involves more than just stopping self judgment. It involves actively comforting ourselves, responding, just as we would do a dear friend in need”.

If you don’t let yourself be vulnerable, you never experience failure on a significant level. You don’t fail, you don’t learn, you don’t learn, you don’t grow. And if that’s the case, forget about the top of the mountain.

“When we live a life of meaning, we invite others to do the same. Those who come behind us will build on our stories. They can add to them and make them better because we have showed them the way”.

“You can stare that fear wolf down, and refuse to feed it any longer. Starve it of that negative conditioning. Then you can feed the courage wolf, a steady diet of good food, and lead with your heart and mind as equal partners”.

You have everything you need to get started. Stop waiting for the weather to change in your life. Stop waiting for the perfect conditions. Stop waiting for a handout. Stop waiting for everybody to believe in you, and cheer for you, and affirm you.

“Perhaps the single greatest paradigm shift I’ve had as a human is this idea: I am writing my story, and I alone have the responsibility to shape it into something meaningful”.

The soul resides within. Connecting with that best, most heroic version of ourselves, so we can live with eudaemonia, which means good soul, in service to something bigger than ourselves, is, of course, the ultimate game we were playing and the focal point of everything we do together.

We don’t have to wait until we’re actually near death to receive these benefits of being mortal. We can create the experience anytime we want.

Yes, on some level you need to be committed to what you’re doing. You need to want to see the project finished or get healthier, or get an earlier start to your day. But you don’t need to feel like doing it. Act differently than how you feel.