What distinguishes a friend from an acquaintance is not the time in which the bond has lasted, but rather in the lack of conditions that accompanies that relationship. An acquaintance always requires conditions to stay in touch, with the most prevalent examples being workplace colleagues and next-door neighbors. Once you quit your job or move to an

Wisdom is the co-existence of contradictory truths. It’s to understand that every truth contains the seed of its opposite, and nowhere is this more pertinent than in the domain of the mind.

Conversely, if you treat people with compassion, then you will be kind to yourself regardless of circumstance. If you are present with whoever you encounter, then you’ll retain contentment even when you’re alone.

If you treat people as assets that serve your goals, then you will define yourself by what you produce. If you categorize people by status, then you’ll use your place in society to determine your self-worth.

Anytime you think you “should” do something, that’s conditioning. Anytime you compare yourself to another, that’s conditioning. Anything that causes fear or worry to arise is conditioning, as peace is disturbed only when you have an expectation that lies beyond the present moment.

Intuition is the inner wisdom that welcomes uncertainty. It understands that you can’t know everything, but what you know about yourself will make up for that gap.

Choosing certainty is only desirable when we fear the unknown. But as that fear fades, choosing curiosity is the next logical step. And when you don’t take that step, it’ll feel like you’re limiting the scope of meaningful experiences you can have. This is a version of suffering that countless people feel, all because of an ardent attachment to saf

contentment doesn’t reside in what you previously were, but rather in an embrace of what you currently are.

There’s a fascinating concept called social referencing that helps illustrate this point. In short, when we are babies, we use our mother’s emotional state as a map to navigate our physical world. So if a baby is crawling around a sofa and sees a short drop, he’ll first look to his mother to get a sense of her reaction. If she’s anxious, he will ab