We Don't Have to Shine

"We don't have to shine.  We just have to learn to be kind to ourselves." Mark Epstein

Epstein relates a story of a Buddhist monk who receives a gift from his teacher at the teacher's death.  It is an old, battered aluminum cooking pot.  He is showing it to one of his students and asking the person, "Do you see?"  When the student said he did not see the significance of the gift, the teacher responds, "You don't have to shine.  You just have to learn to be kind to yourself."  A good lesson for us all.