“Feelings, whether of compassion or irritation, should be welcomed, recognized, and treated on an absolutely equal basis… because both are ourselves.

“The tangerine I am eating is me.

The mustard greens I am planting are me. I plant with all my heart and mind. I clean this teapot with the kind of attention I would have were I giving the baby Buddha or Jesus a bath.

Nothing should be treated more carefully than anything else.

In mindfulness, compassion, irritation, mustard green plant, and teapot are all sacred.”

~ Thích Nhất Hạnh, The Miracle of Mindfulness: An Introduction to the Practice of Meditation