I love Michael's descriptions, in the first few pages of chapter eight, in regards to how many of us do life from a place of trying to control it. That couldn't possibly be because I relate to what he is saying : )
On page 71 he says, "If you have a lot of fear, you won't like change. You'll try to create a world around you that is predictable, controllable, and definable." And, "Because people don't deal with fear objectively, they don't understand it. They end up keeping their fear and trying to prevent things from happening that would stimulate it. They go through life attempting to create safety and control by defining how they need life to be in order to be okay."
Page 72 says, "If you attempt to arrange people, places, and things so they don't disturb you, it will begin to feel like life is against you. You'll feel that life is a struggle and that every day is heavy because you have to control and fight with everything."
Michael's recommendation for dealing with our fears, and moving beyond a life of struggle is to let the fears come up and then consciously decide to let them go. Don't resist them, just be a witness to them, and they will pass on through. It is my resistance to life that makes it uncomfortable.
The above are just a few of my favourite quotes from this chapter. What passages stand out for you?