Welcome.
This is a short pause.
A space to rest.
A chance to remember what is already true.
Take a moment to notice your body where it is.
Feel the ground,
The chair or the bed beneath you.
Let yourself be supported.
You do not need to hold everything together in this moment.
You can allow the surface beneath you to do the holding.
Now bring your attention to the breath.
Notice the inhale.
Notice the exhale.
The gentle rhythm that is here without effort.
You are being breathed.
Life is carrying you.
Discouragement may feel heavy.
It can seem like a sign that you're failing or that something is wrong.
But from a three principles perspective,
Discouragement is not who you are.
It is simply a passing experience of thought.
It looks real when it is believed but it always moves on.
Take another breath here.
Notice the coolness as the air enters.
Notice the warmth as it leaves.
Let the breath remind you that movement is natural.
Feelings like breath rise and fall.
Discouragement is no different.
Perhaps you notice where discouragement lives in your body.
A heaviness in the chest.
A sinking in the stomach.
A tension in the jaw.
Where it is,
Simply notice it.
Let it be here without resistance and allow the breath to soften its edges.
Discouragement may whisper stories.
I am not enough.
I should be further ahead.
It will never get better.
These are only thoughts.
They are not facts.
They are clouds drifting across the sky.
And you are not the clouds.
You are the sky that holds it all.
Pause.
Feel the space that is here now.
Even if the feeling remains,
Presence is here too.
The awareness that notices discouragement is not discouraged.
The calm that sees the storm is not the storm.
Take another breath.
Let it remind you of the steadiness beneath every changing mood.
Let it remind you of the resilience that has always carried you.
You do not need to work for this resilience.
You do not need to practice to earn it.
It is already here.
Revealed when the noise of thought begins to quiet.
For these few moments,
Rest back into the truth of who you are.
Not broken.
Not defined by discouragement.
But whole,
Calm,
Present.
Carry this reminder with you as you move on.
Whenever discouragement appears,
You can pause.
Feel the body.
Notice the breath.
See the story for what it is.
Thought already passing.
And remember the calm that never left you.
Thank you for pausing here.
