THE FOUR PRINCIPLES 
 

In today’s busy age, where we are expected to achieve more and more in less and less time the pressure on our souls is enormous.  It can be easy to feel that there are not enough hours in the day to complete all our tasks and satisfy everyone around you.  We can get so caught up in fulfilling our obligations to others – work, family, friends and partners, that we genuinely believe that there is no time to spare for ourselves, and that “our” time must always be put to the bottom of the list.  We continue to reinforce our belief that ourselves and our needs are not important.  We struggle on harder and harder, striving for perfection, reaching higher to achieve ever-distant goals.  All the while, we ignore and pay no attention to the genuine need that exists for us to take care of ourselves.  As time goes on we feel more and more anxious, more and more resentful and we begin to hit more obstacles, life begins to take on the appearance of being uncooperative, still we carry on, ignoring the truth, determined to believe that by working harder and leaving ourselves out, we will finally reach a place of relief.  Often it is only at the point where we are physically ill that we allow ourselves to stop, slow down and take a breath.  Even then, many of us do not allow ourselves the time to recover fully and we set off on our busy daily round until the cycle brings us back to the same place. 

The truth is, however, that we are important! It is crucial for us to take the time to consider ourselves, to truly learn what loving is by learning to have compassion for ourselves, through learning to nurture our precious self we will surprise ourselves to discover our heart, and from that place we will truly know what is important.