Recently, I woke up in the middle of the night, caught in an anxious spiral about a mistake I had made. I felt guilty and didn’t know what to do. Luckily, I had a powerful tool: returning to the breath.

I began taking deep breaths, my exhale longer than my inhale. Soon, my thoughts fell away. I existed without thought for a couple minutes, touching deep inner peace. I drank from my own source. Breathing mindfully fed the silence, and I regained clarity. To be released from the past, give up the past in the present.

I carry this thoughtless place with me at all times, and so do you. A key part of meditation is transitioning to living with daily tranquility, no matter what happens. Buddhists say “Be in the world, not of it.”

I’m no angel. I make mistakes like everyone else. I’m not a perfect person, let alone a perfect Buddhist. I’ve never read the sutras. I miss a day or four of meditation. I don’t even own a Buddha statue. But no matter my mistakes, the Buddhist path has room for them. And that loving space, the path that holds even your deepest mistakes with a smile, is possible for everyone.