"Yield." Regina Brett, age 94, 45 Lessons on Life

It's a pretty sure thing you can't live very long without encountering an opportunity to yield. But contrary to what many believe, yielding is not about giving in or compromising or settling. Those are actions based on logic. Yielding is far more elegant and mysterious. When we yield we stretch our hearts capacity to feel compassion;for others and surprisingly,for ourselves. To yield in a given situation, indicates our awareness and connection to the part of us that glimpses beyond both sides of the struggle at hand and senses there is a force larger than ourselves at work. Even though we may not know the outcome we are willing to be part of the tranformation-whatever that may be--and so we open up and bend. It is one of the most potent and misunderstood forms of power, probably because it is not about the power of our will, but our capacity for love.