Even as we recognize our resentment, bitterness, or jealousy, we can also honor our own wish to be happy, to feel free.

Sometimes people in abusive situations think they’re responsible for the other person’s happiness or that they’re going to fix them and make them feel better. The practice of equanimity teaches that it’s not all up to you to make someone else happy.

The more we identify and acknowledge moments when we’re unable to share in someone else’s pleasure and ask ourselves whether another person’s happiness truly jeopardizes our own, the more we pave the way for experiencing sympathetic joy

These are times when sympathetic joy comes naturally, but in a complex relationship the heart may not leap up so easily.

The heart is a generous muscle.

How we traverse the space between us when conflict arises has a profound effect on the health and longevity of our relationships.