The most challenging struggle of my life has been to discover and become who I really am.
I protect my true self from myself, and everyone else, with elaborate systems of distractions, detours, and defenses. Like a medieval castle, I am behind a moat that is difficult to cross, surrounded by nearly impenetrable walls, and filled with confusing corridors and passageways. Even now, I discover new facets of myself and set off exploring in new directions.
I am drawn forward, in spite of the challenges and the pain of the losses along the way. There are things deep inside me that know beyond any doubt that the struggle is worth it. I believe, in primal ways, that my true self lives in union with God, and in connection to everyone and everything else. It is overwhelmingly attractive to discover and fit together each piece of that picture, no matter how tiny.
As I go deeper, as I get to know my truest self, new aspects of who I am are released into the world. I know myself in new ways. My core values and my vision for myself become clearer and more integrated. I become who I am. The ways I relate to myself, the ways I relate to others, and the ways I live in the world are transformed.
I become the leader, the coach, the person I am intended to be. My interior life and my exterior life become one.
Ironically, my true self flourishes as I learn to free it from the defenses I have built. Like many castles, the protections I have built have become a prison, and my true self cannot truly be myself unless I am free.
What have you constructed to protect your true self?
How does your true self flourish as you set yourself free?
[Image by Eddi van W.]
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