Pain is inevitable; suffering is optional.

Pain is inevitable. Suffering is optional.

Pain is inevitable. Suffering is optional.

Life is a series of natural and spontaneous changes. Don't resist them; that only creates sorrow. Let reality be reality. Let things flow naturally forward in whatever way they like.

We are not striving to make pain go away or to become a better person. In fact, we are giving up control altogether and letting concepts and ideals fall apart. This starts with realizing that whatever occurs is neither the beginning nor the end. It is just the same kind of normal human experience that’s been happening to everyday people from the beginning of time.

Pain is unavoidable, but suffering is optional.

Pain is inevitable. Suffering is optional. Say you’re running and you think, ‘Man, this hurts, I can’t take it anymore. The ‘hurt’ part is an unavoidable reality, but whether or not you can stand anymore is up to the runner himself.

When you are at one with loss, the loss is experienced willingly.

Life is loss. But out of that, as the book stresses, comes freedom. If we can accept that nothing is permanent, and change is inevitable, if we can adapt, then we’re going to be happier people.

In those moments when we realize how much we cannot control, we can learn to let go.

El dolor es inevitable, el sufrimiento es opcional.

Sooner or later we've all got to let go of our past.

don't run away
from heavy emotions
honor the anger;
give pain the space
it needs to breathe
this is how we let go

When the resistance is gone, so are the demons. It’s like a koan that we can work with by learning how to be more gentle, how to relax, and how to surrender to the situations and people in our lives.