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Make sure you set a good example by solving your own problem. That’s why we’re focused right here, because this is where the problem gets solved.

"We have the example of the Buddha. That’s made a huge impact on the world, showing people that it is possible to get out. And we are getting out . We’re not just deciding that we’re going to stay here and be in the present moment and accept that as our goal. The goal is to get out. This is a place where we can’t live. One of the Buddha’s common images is of a house on fire. Everything in the present is on fire, being destroyed. All these fabrications that we’re creating can’t be a place to stay. Because as soon as we do them — and they are things that we do — as soon as we do them, they’re not going to just stay there. They ignite and disappear. You have to keep doing them again and again and again. You did it yesterday and today you have to do it again and tomorrow you have to do it again. One moment to moment to moment, you have to keep at it. Even with the concentration you have to keep doing it. You can’t just settle in and say, “Okay, I’ll relax.” It’s relatively restful c
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Any well-being short of the Deathless is unstable, it's going to be a cause for suffering

"And even in the relative comfort we have here, when you actually gain a taste of the Deathless, you realize that ordinary sensory experience is extremely painful compared to what the Deathless is. So even the pleasures we have here have pain built into them. We use those three perceptions to remind ourselves of that, so that we don’t get complacent, say, “Well, what I’ve got is good enough as it is.” You look around. It’s unstable, whatever well-being you have that’s short of the Deathless. And because it’s unstable, it’s going to be a cause for suffering. So why identify with it? There must be something better. That’s the discontent with skillful qualities. So our teacher is the Anti-slacker or what you may call an Unslacker. If we want to do well on the path he laid out, we have to be anti-slackers and unslackers as well. Because our suffering is our problem. No matter how much someone else may tell us it’s no big deal, we know for ourselves that it is a problem.
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If you focus on the issue of suffering, a lot of things are brought right there together. Because right where there’s feeling there’s also attention and intention, perception — particularly intention. And when these issues are solved, everything important gets solved as well.

"The Buddha started and ended his teaching with the issue of how to put an end to suffering, and it’s easy to agree with him that this is an important issue to address. Some people, though, wonder if that’s all he addresses. Just put an end to suffering? What else is there? Aren’t there bigger issues in life? Actually, it was a part of the Buddha’s genius to realize that if you put an end to suffering, you learn a lot of other things about the mind. If you focus on the issue of suffering, a lot of things are brought right there together. Because right where there’s feeling there’s also attention and intention, perception — particularly intention. And when these issues are solved, everything important gets solved as well." ~ Thanissaro Bhikkhu "The Choice Not to Suffer"
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If you can train the mind to the point where it’s found something that can’t be touched by anything in space and time but can be touched through inner awareness, you know you have a happiness you can depend on.

"The more wealth you have inside, the less you’re worried about wealth outside. The less you worry about wealth outside, the more you can trust yourself to do the skillful thing, to say the skillful thing, to think the skillful thing in any situation. If you can train the mind to the point where it’s found something that can’t be touched by anything in space and time but can be touched through inner awareness — as the Buddha says, you touch it with the body, or you see it with the body; in other words, it’s a total experience; it’s not just a vision, it’s not just an idea, it’s visceral: Once you’ve had your first taste of that, you know you have a happiness you can depend on. This means you can depend on your mind as well. The other pleasures of the world become less important and are less likely to tempt you to do unskillful things to attain them and protect them because you realize you have something that doesn’t need protection." ~ Thanissaro Bhikkhu "Permission to P
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You don’t turn your mind into a resigned oatmeal kind of state. You find that by letting go, things open up immensely. No limits of space or time. And no need to put in any effort.

"The Buddha never said nirvana is the ultimate equanimity. He said it’s the ultimate happiness. You don’t turn your mind into a resigned oatmeal [dull or plain] kind of state. You find that by letting go, things open up immensely. No limits of space or time. And no need to put in any effort." ~ Thanissaro Bhikkhu "A Soiled, Oily Rag (Three Perceptions in Context)"
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You have to avoid thinking of the goal as something down the line. It’s something to be found right here.

"So this is how completion is attained. It’s by focusing on each moment, giving importance to each moment, realizing, “I now have this one in-and-out breath. I’ve got an opportunity to practice. Let’s make the most of it.” Approach each moment as skillfully as you can. And as the moments pass and you’re still alive, you’ve got the opportunity to get more and more skilled. There will come a point where the skill does reach a point of completion. You can’t map it out ahead of time that it’s going to take x number of days, weeks, months, years, lifetimes. But you can be confident that this is where it’s found, this is how it’s done. It’s right here. The more importance you give to the present moment, the closer you get to the goal. That’s why you have to avoid thinking of the goal as something down the line, in terms of stepping back from the present moment and looking out across the calendar. It’s something to be found right here. So look right here. If you give complete
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If there’s something that you’re doing that’s making a mess and you can stop, why continue living in the mess? As the Buddha saw: Our minds are a mess, or as he said, our minds are on fire. And we can put the fire out.

"The idea that you have no choice in the present moment has no real basis in what the Buddha taught. You wonder why people would want to teach it, and wonder why people would want to listen to it and accept it. Usually it’s offered as saying, “Well, it’s a great relief that you’re not to be blamed for anything.” It’s like saying, “Well, there’s a huge mess right here, but it’s nobody’s fault, so you just live with the mess — can’t do anything about it.” If that’s your main concern — not to be blamed for the mess — then something’s really wrong. If there’s something that you’re doing that’s making a mess and you can stop, why continue living in the mess? As the Buddha saw: Our minds are a mess, or as he said, our minds are on fire. And we can put the fire out. That’s what his teachings are all about, why he called his goal nibbāna, which means the extinguishing of the fires of greed, fires of aversion, fires of delusion." ~ Thanissaro Bhikkhu "You Can Make a Difference
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