Quotes About Self-discovery

Anything can become a spiritual practice once you are willing to approach it that way—once you let it bring you to your knees and show you what is real, including who you really are, who other people are, and how near God can be when you have lost your way.

It was when your partner left you that you remembered what else you meant to do in your life beyond staying together.

I spent a great deal of time trying to be good, but was good the same as whole?

Most of us spend so much time thinking about where we have been or where we are supposed to be going that we have a hard time recognizing where we actually are. When someone asks us where we want to be in our lives, the last thing that occurs to us is to look down at our feet and say, "Here, I guess, since this is where I am.

You are truly, seriously lost, even though you know exactly where you are.

See who you are. Be what you see.

Even within the last three or four years, I have a greater ability to communicate, I think. I have more courage to show the stuff... And it does take courage.

The journey in between what you once were and who you are now beoming is where the dance of life really takes place.

The journey in between what you once were, and who you are now becoming is where the dance of life really takes place.

We need to find the courage to say no to the things and people that are not serving us if we want to rediscover ourselves and live our lives with authenticity.

What I'm about—what I'm all about—is revealing something true. Something deep inside, that maybe you didn't even know existed. But that you need to share with the world.

She thought about this. She had analyzed it in depth. When you live alone, travel alone, exist solely on the outskirts of other people's lives, you do have time to wonder why what you want most in life is out of reach. You also have the time to tell yourself that you don't want it at all, though whether you can ever be completely convinced is something else.

The only way to deal with old baggage was to open it up and sort through. How else to know what to keep and what to toss?

What if the past won't stay packed away in a box with my name on it, just sitting there until I feel like taking if off the shelf and lifting the lid?

I'm not saying that there's anything better than mated bliss at its best, but I'm saying that living alone is as good in its own way. But we haven't quite given ourselves permission to recognize that.

Develop the habit of reaching in. It's a way to come home to ourselves, to be whole. Those who consistently express themselves feel homesick if, from time to time, they are unable to.

The emotional excess of music felt more real than the muted emotion and soft demeanor I expressed in daily life. When I was this passionately engaged I didn't need anything else to "complete" me; not a man, not a career affirmation. I only had to give in to the music to live an immense life that I could experience any time I chose.

Proust said we read to know ourselves; there are many more selves to know than can come to light in our ordinary lives. When we and the writer meet on the page our silent communion crosses centuries.

Try not to worry about what others will think—you alone are inside your soul and know what will bring you the greatest satisfaction and make you feel fully alive. Be acutely aware of the things you enjoy and have always wanted to do. Don't dismiss an interest because you think it's too late to start. Remember, Socrates wanted to learn to play the lyre three days before his execution!

Living alone provides the guardrails of friends and inner autonomy as insurance against losing oneself in that first delirium of infatuation and prematurely surrendering to a relationship you might later regret.

many of us cower at the edge of that psychological boundary and abort our soul's adventure.

I sat down with paper and pen and just wrote, recklessly, without judgment, without spell-check. It was like going deliciously mad on the page! Where did these feelings come from? Who was feeling them? Who was writing such odd thoughts and images? Each time I surfaced I came back with a strange creature I treasured. Whether the world would equally treasure my captives wasn't important; they were mine and I welcomed them home like family.

Wings unclipped, there was only me playing with empty space that kneeled to my will.

Be reckless. What's the worst that can happen? We're hoping to be surprised by some unrestrained part of ourselves that can't be expressed in our ordinary lives. The discoveries we're after can only surprise us when we're ready to accept whatever we uncover.