Excerpts: If we want to thrive, the act of accessing joy right here right now is one of the first muscles to strengthen. there have to be things that we are happy about today, even if they are small” (p. 4).

“It took a while, but I eventually learned that gratitude and affirmations are so effective because they are about tuning in to a new frequency” (p. 5-6).

“I mean that we can’t use the promise and gifts of tomorrow to escape this very moment. If you are not spiritually fit right now, running anywhere else is pointless. The next place will never save you” (p. 22-23).

“When you see the natural, bright colors of a bird, when you see the shock of a branch bursting into flower, when you see the sun reflected on the face of a glittering, high building, you must recognize each miracle as part of your existence, memory, story–as something you belong to” (p. 38).

“We allow long-ago plotlines and descriptions that are no longer relevant to define us and set deeper into our bones as fact. We allow them to impair our movement and vision. But the only true, sure thing is impermanence: growth, changes, the unknown” (p. 41).

“That is the liquid of life, well lived. You filter by collecting yourself, stretching out, breathing new life into all your parts, willing them health, and flushing out what no longer works. We should always be letting go” (p. 44).

“Even if you feel as though you might never finish a thing, never let it prevent you from starting. Be in love with the idea of it and admire it every day. Allow yourself to think about it with only admiration and imagination” (p. 113).

“You deserve many beginnings” (p. 114).

Daley-Ward, Yrsa (2021). The How: Notes on the Great work of Meeting Yourself. New York: Penguin Books.