Quotes about Self-discovery

Am I willing to walk into the wilds of my interior life without knowing what I'll find?

We do not want to embark on a further journey if it feels like going down, especially after we have put so much sound and fury into going up. This is surely the first and primary reason why many people never get to the fullness of their own lives. The supposed achievements of the first half of life have to fall apart and show themselves to be wanting in some way, or we will not move further. Why would we?

The True Self always has something good to say. The False Self babbles on, largely about itself.

Your True Self is that part of you that knows who you are and whose you are, although largely unconsciously.

In this high place it is as simple as this, Leave everything you know behind. Step toward the cold surface, say the old prayer of rough love and open both arms. Those who come with empty hands will stare into the lake astonished, there, in the cold light reflecting pure snow, the true shape of your own face. David Whyte, "Tilicho Lake"   Conservatives

We need to encounter the hero within and let him lead us on the adventure of our lives.

People who know who they are find it the easiest to know who they aren't.

The self-same moment that we find God in ourselves, we also find ourselves inside God

The end is already planted in us at the beginning, and it gnaws away at us until we get there freely and consciously.

This needed work is indeed "spiritual warfare," as the desert monks called it, since it takes conscious and sustained struggle to be aware of the shadow self—which only takes ever more subtle disguises the "holier" you get.

First half of life folks will seldom have the courage to go forward at this point unless they have a guide, a friend, a Virgil, a Tiresias, a Beatrice, a soul friend or a stumbling block to guide them toward the goal. There are few in our religious culture who understand the necessity of mature, internalized conscience so wise guides are hard to find. You will have many more Aarons building you golden calves than Moses' leading you on any exodus.

Asking for something from God does not mean talking God into it; it means an awakening of the gift within ourselves.