Transformation arises from a willingness that develops very slowly over time to be what life asks of us.
Most of us (myself included at times) are like children: we want something or somebody to give us what a small child wants from its parents. We want to be given peace, attention, comfort, understanding. If our life doesn't give us this, we think, "A few years of Zen practice will do this for me." No, they won't.
— Charlotte Joko Beck, Essential Zen by Kazuaki Tanahanshi, editor, Tensho David Schneider, editor