When you refrain from habitual thoughts and behavior, the uncomfortable feelings will still be there. They don’t magically disappear. Over the years, I’ve come to call resting with the discomfort “the detox period,” because when you don’t act on your habitual patterns, it’s like giving up an addiction. You’re left with the feelings you were trying to escape. The practice is to make a wholehearted relationship with that.
Pema Chödron
from the book Living Beautifully with Uncertainty and Change
Read a random quote or see all quotes by Pema Chödron.
Further quotes from the book Living Beautifully with Uncertainty and Change:
- Groundlessness
- Holding a diversity party in our living room
- Building Inner Strength
- A Wall of Truth
- Unfettered mind
- Stepping-stones for awakening our compassion
- What are you doing when you are unhappy
- The real cause of our suffering
- Beyond our comfort zone
- The mandala of our life
- Just our personal viewpoint
- We Have a Choice
- Difficult relationships
- Forever in flux
- Everything and everyone is in process
- Embracing the groundlessness of our situation
- The knack of refraining
- Renouncing one thing
- Practicing with Strong Emotions