| With cousins in Florida, sometime in the late 1960s |
The sense of being far away is not something to overcome but to respect and include in loving awareness. This is the way to work with our difficulties, to include them and learn from them. Feelings that seem like adversaries can become our allies when they’re included, and mindfulness offers us nobility and joy as we open to what is present completely.
In fact, there can be something more authentic in the times you feel something’s missing than when you feel satisfied. The more deeply you practice, the more you realize how much there is to learn. Even the self that would judge your experience is not a problem to be fixed, but to be held with compassion as part of the path.
This is a way to keep loving awareness in the center of your life, even when it feels far away. Remember, where you are now is the perfect place to practice.
Trudy Goodman
Founder and Guiding Teacher of Insight LA
from The Perfect Place to Practice