it is a brave practice to meet our lives just as they are in this moment, to meet ourselves just as we are, with how we feel, with all we are experiencing. 

it takes a certain amount of bravery to meet our discomfort, a certain amount of fortitude to lean into our life rather than avoiding it, rather than grasping only after what is comfortable and enjoyable, rather than pushing away what is challenging and upsetting.

but life is filled with a full range of experiences and to live our lives fully is to meet all of our life with an open heart, with curiosity, and courage. we learn so much about ourselves and this life by embracing this attitude, by taking this approach. by doing so we are connecting, understanding, and relating to ourselves and others in a very real, human, and tender way. we come to know that everyone, without exception and in a multitude of ways, is experiencing the full range of this life with all of its ups and downs.

meeting our lives where they are, provides the opportunity to be brave, provides a gateway to understanding, to empathy, to tenderness, and compassion. it provides the opportunity to love and the (perhaps) surprising revelation that we have the capacity to be here and to do this thing called life, and to do so with love.

~j

⭕️❤️🙏🏻

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