To be beautiful means to be yourself. You don’t need to be accepted by others. You need to accept yourself. When you are born a lotus flower, be a beautiful lotus flower, don’t try to be a magnolia flower. If you crave acceptance and recognition and try to change yourself to fit what other people want you to be, you will suffer all your life. True happiness and true power lie in understanding yourself, accepting yourself, having confidence in yourself.♥

~Thich Nhat Hanh, The Art of Power

The most precious gift we can offer others is our presence. When mindfulness embraces those we love, they will bloom like flowers. ~Thich Nhat Hanh

Sometimes your joy is the source of your smile, but sometimes your smile can be the source of your joy. ~Thich Nhat Hanh

There is no way to happiness. Happiness is the way.

Understand who you are. This can be interpreted in many ways. The simplest is - know your talents and limitations and accept them. More difficult, to see the patterns in your thoughts, emotions and behaviour. When you look into them honestly, you see that these are quite automatic, fairly unintelligent, and often forcing you to engage in certain actions that you may not already agree with. Then you may say, I am not defined by them, or even, I am not that. And if not, then who am I?

And when you know who you really are, then the hardest is, how do I be who I am?