On Changing Habits

Quotes from If the Buddha Came to Dinner: How to Nourish Your Body to Awaken Your Spirit By Halé Sofia Schatz, Shira Shaiman

"The only way to cross from one form of our life to the next is by taking the steps: We can't just talk the talk, we have to walk our walk. Maybe you test the ground a little before you're sure it is solid. Once you know it's okay, you take another step. It takes a great deal of courage to act on what you know to be true. If you want to begin gradually by feeding yourself two meals a week that you've cooked from scratch, that's a step. If you do a three-day cleanse, that's also a step. If you decide that it's important to feed yourself and your family organic meats and dairy, that's another step. Usually one step leads to another because each step proves to be beneficial in your life. You don't cross the bridge in a single bound. You do it by starting where you are and taking small steps. And if you need to rest along the way, then you rest." (177)

"Once you've crossed one bridge, you can always visit the place you came from, but you can't live there again. If you grew up eating hamburgers, french fries, and milkshakes, you can have these foods when you're an adult, but only occasionally. Once we experience a deeper level of nourisment, we are more willing to change our patterns. Bridge crossings require us to leave parts of ourselves behind. In this way, each life transformation represents a loss as well as a birth. But you lose only what no longer serves your life's journey. What you gain is what's in your heart of hearts." (178)

"Is this bare plant with its potential for growing roses any less beautiful, any less miraculous, than the actual rose?" (182)

"Spiritual growth isn't linear. We can't rush it or control it. What we can do is love and nourish ourselves to our utmost capabilities each day. And, perhaps most difficult of all in our culture, we can practice patience." (182)

"I have to learn to be patient with myself, to accept myself with strengths together with my flaws. I have to accept and celebrate myself, regardless of where I am in my life." (183)