“When shame is met with compassion and not received as conrmation of our guilt, we can begin to see how slant a lens it has had us looking through. That awareness lets us step back far enough to see...”

“Power is confusing for us, perhaps even terrifying, because our relationship with it had an unfortunate beginning. Someone in a position of power over us used and abused usIt seems as if power were...”

“For change to occur in us, we must be willing to enter the wilderness of the unknown and to wander in unfamiliar territory, directionless and often in the darkness....We do not need to keep every l...”

“In the grief that comes with recognizing what happened to us, we often feel there is nowhere to turn for solaceWe do things to keep it away, such as becoming overly busy or using drugs or alcohol t...”

“As we move away from the old role in which we were helplessly entrapped as a victim, we make friends with the people who affirm us. Their enthusiasm about us mirrors the positive experience we are ...”

“Because we were treated neglectfully and abusively in our young yearswhen we most needed self-love to be mirroredit was difficult to hold ontoWe take up the challenge of learning to love ourselves,...”

“Stop looking for that person you were in the past. She has changed. Look for the person she has grown into. She is wiser and stronger than than ever before. Don't go back to who you were. Cherish w...”

“Closeness was the promise of suffering and pain”

“In spite of the horror, in spite of the tragedy, in spite of the weeks of sleepless nights, I'm finally alive. I'm not pretending. I feel real. I'm not playing charades anymore. I wouldn't go back ...”

“Meditation did not relieve me of my anxiety so much as flesh it out. It took my anxious response to the world, about which I felt a lot of confusion and shame, and let me understand it more complet...”

“All this wondering was the weather vane on top of the building of unrest and of discontent”

“Anxiety is love's greatest killer. It makes others feel as you might when a drowning man holds on to you. You want to save him, but you know he will strangle you with his panic.”

“The difference between successful people and really successful people is that really successful people say no to almost everything.”

“A BILL OF ASSERTIVE RIGHTSI: You have the right to judge your own behavior, thoughts, and emotions, and to take the responsibility for their initiation and consequences upon yourself.II: You have t...”

“I am enthusiastic and optimistic.”