Deborah Smith

So what should we do if we want to let something go? The answer is to accept ourselves just as we are. If we accept the struggling self, our state of mind will soon undergo a change, though it will be subtle at first. When we regard our difficult emotions as a problem, and try to overcome them, we only struggle more. In contrast, when we accept them, strangely

enough our mind stops struggling, and grows suddenly quiet. And when that happens, it becomes possible to leave our emotions behind and look at them warmly from the outside. Rather than trying to change or control difficult emotions from the inside, allow them to be there, and your mind will rest. When this happens, you can more easily detach yourself and look at your emotions calmly, as though they belong to someone else.

When our mind is quiet and we look at our emotions from the outside, something unexpected happens: We sense the loving presence of our inner silence, watching those emotions with composure. If you are religious, the inner silence may feel like the presence of God or another transcendental being. We thought we were struggling alone in the world, but in the stillness we