In the practice of meditation, your journey begins with personal appreciation, with kindness, gentleness, and making friends with yourself. The more we trust ourselves, the more we acknowledge our friendship with ourselves, the more we uncover gentleness and kindness throughout our lives.That is the only way to overcome the fundamental obstacles in our lives.The breakthroughs won’t come from combat. We won’t uncover peacefulness by going to war with ourselves or others. We don’t have to attack anybody, kill anybody, or destroy anybody in order to feel better about ourselves.

From “The Present Moment,” in Mindfulness in Action: Making Friends with Yourself through Meditation and Everyday Awareness, page 50.