from Pema Chodron

[Guest guest]

"At the beginning of your day, using your own language, you could

encourage yourself to keep your heart open, to remain curious, no matter

how difficult things get. Then at the end of the day when you're just

about to go to sleep, review the day. Rather than using what happened as

ammunition for feeling bad about yourself, about how the whole day went

by and you never once remembered what you had aspired to do in the

morning, you can simply use it as an opportunity to get to know yourself

better and to see all the funny ways in which you trick yourself, all

the ways in which you're so good at zoning out and shutting down. If you

feel like you don't want to practice the three difficulties anymore

because it's like set-ting yourself up for failure, generate a kind

heart toward yourself. Reflecting over just one day's activities can be

painful, but you may end up respecting yourself more, because you see

that a lot hap-pened; you weren't just one way. As Carl Jung said at the

end of his life, "I am astonished, disappointed, pleased with myself. I

am dis-tressed, depressed, and rapturous. I am all these things at once

and can-not add up the sum."

So that's the big squeeze. Although you listen to all these teach-ings,

and you have all these practices as a support, somehow it has to become

real for you. It has to be digested by you. The teachings and practices

are like orange juice concentrate -that thick orange stuff in the

can-and life is like the water. You have to mix it all together. Then

you have good orange juice that you can bring out in a big pitcher for

everyone to drink. And even though it came out of a can, you know that

it's truly freshly squeezed."