Rolf Gates’ book Meditations from the Mat has a quote by Stephen R. Covey. It includes this:
“The next time you communicate with anyone, you can put aside your own autobiography and genuinely seek to understand.”
I was thinking about how many amazing, wonderful people I’ve connected with since I began practicing yoga, people whom the old me would have thought were too different to become close with. It’s so absolutely empowering that we can set aside what we think defines us–our race, our gender, our income, our day job, our past–and interact outside our autobiography.
When we do, we gain not just great friends, but the peace that comes from allowing ourselves to just be true to who we really are, not who we or others thought or think we should be.
(A side note: This is damn hard sometimes! Especially, for me, when I visit friends or family who’ve known me forever ;)
