"Darling, I suffer too. Please help me?" is the fourth love mantra. Thích Nhất Hạnh says that this one is "a little bit harder" than the first three to practice. It can be scary and vulnerable to admit to and share openly about the ways that we struggle and are unskillful. "I'm sorry for my impact on you" can be one of the hardest things for people to say without their psyches collapsing into a feeling that they are essentially wrong or bad in the world. But practicing owning our impact may be key to living in a more accountable world, internally and externally. When is a time in the past week that you acknowledged openly and lovingly your impact on someone, including perhaps on yourself?
[image description: Two hearts sit on the grass. The heart on the left has a tear on its face. The heart on the right has a concerned facial expression, is gently holding its knees and reclining backward slightly, and is witnessing the heart on the left. Above the heart on the right text reads, "I suffer too."]
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