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    “Denying negative emotions leads to experiencing deeper and more prolonged negative emotions and to emotional dysfunction.  Constant positivity is a form of avoidance, not a valid solution to life’s problems—problems which, by the way, if you’re choosing the right values and metrics, should be invigorating you and motivating you.” ~ Mark Mason, The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck

      “The desire for a more positive experience is itself a negative experience.  And, paradoxically, the acceptance of one’s negative experience is itself a positive experience.” ~ Mark Mason, The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck

        This being human is a guest house.
        Every morning a new arrival.
        A joy, a depression, a meanness,
        some momentary awareness comes
        as an unexpected visitor.
        Welcome and entertain them all!
        Even if they’re a crowd of sorrows,
        who violently sweep your house
        empty of its furniture,
        still, treat each guest honorably.
        He may be clearing you out
        for some new delight.
        The dark thought, the shame, the malice,
        meet them at the door laughing,
        and invite them in.
        Be grateful for whoever comes
        because each has been sent
        as a guide from beyond.

        ~ Rumi, via Solitude

          “Anxiety is part of our human condition, and we need to learn to treat it as an old friend, or least a familiar acquaintance.  Many therapists say to do something to avoid anxiety, but in such endless activity much of our experience – joyful and painful – is lost.  Seems like a hard bargain.” ~ Robert Kull, Solitude

            “When sadness comes, be really sad.  Don’t try to escape from it – allow it, cooperate with it.  Let it dissolve in you and you be dissolved in it.  Become one with it.  Be really sad: no resistance, no conflict and no struggle.  When happiness comes, be happy: dance and be ecstatic.  When happiness comes, don’t try to cling to it.  Don’t say that it should remain always and always; that is the way to miss it.  When sadness comes, don’t say, ‘Don’t come to me,’ or, ‘If you have come, please go soon.’ That is the way to miss it.  Don’t reject sadness and don’t cling to happiness.” ~ Osho, The Art of Living and Dying

              “Sadness has a song… a very deep phenomenon is sadness.  Accept it.  Enjoy it.  Taste it without any rejection, and you will see that it brings many gifts to you which no happiness can ever bring.  If you can accept sadness it is no longer sadness; you have brought a new quality to it.  You will grow through it.  Now it will not be a stone, a rock on the path blocking the way; it will become a step.” ~ Osho, The Art of Living and Dying

                “Sadness is sad because you dislike it.  The sadness is sad because you would not like to be in it.  The sadness is sad because you reject it.  Even sadness becomes a flowering of tremendous beauty, of silence and of depth, if you like it.  Happiness is always shallow; sadness, always deep.  Happiness is like a wave; sadness is like the innermost depth of an ocean.  In sadness you remain with yourself, left alone.  In happiness you start moving with people and you start sharing.  In sadness you close your eyes and you delve deep within yourself.” ~ Osho, The Art of Living and Dying

                  “Closing down in the midst of pain is a denial of a man’s true nature.  A superior man is free in feeling and action, even amidst great pain and hurt.  If necessary, a man should live with a hurting heart rather than a closed one.  He should learn to stay in the wound of pain and act with spontaneous skill and love even from that place.” ~ David Deida, The Way of the Superior Man

                    “The attempt to avoid legitimate suffering lies at the root of all emotional illness.” ~ Scott Peck, The Road Less Traveled

                      “The quickest, simplest, and most powerful way I know to handle any emotion is to remember a time when you felt a similar emotion and realize that you’ve successfully handled this emotion before.” ~ Anthony Robbins, Awaken the Giant Within