BRAVE Too: Sitting with Difficulty

On this page, we will look at how to sit with difficult emotions, using acceptance and focus as powerful tools to stay grounded.

You can click the image of The Worry Tree below for a downloadable version.

The Guest House

This being human is a guest house.
Every morning a new arrival.

A joy, a depression, a meanness,
some momentary awareness comes
as an unexpected visitor.

Welcome and entertain them all!
Even if they’re a crowd of sorrows,
who violently sweep your house
empty of its furniture,
still, treat each guest honorably.
He may be clearing you out
for some new delight.

The dark thought, the shame, the malice,
meet them at the door laughing,
and invite them in.

Be grateful for whoever comes,
because each has been sent
as a guide from beyond.

by Rumi

Taken from SELECTED POEMS by Rumi, Translated by Coleman Barks (Penguin Classics, 2004)