Reflection
What if the question is not why am I so infrequently the person I really want to be, but why do I so infrequently want to be the person I am? How would this change what you think you have to learn? What if becoming who and what we truly are happens not through striving and trying but by recognizing and receiving the people and places and practices that offer us the warmth of encouragement we need to unfold? How would this shape the choices you make about how to spend today?
From Oriah Mountain Dreamer in WOMANPRAYERS, ed. by Mary Ford-Grabowsky
Prayer
I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made.
Psalm 139
Action
Reflect on the questions above. Where do they lead you?
Suggested Reading
But who are you to answer back to God? Will what is molded say to its molder, “Why have you made me like this?”
Romans 9:12
Why, even the hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not; you are of more value than many sparrows.
Luke 12:17
Real love is being open to the love that comes to you. The love that surprises us.
Pope Francis
To be beautiful means to be yourself. You don’t need to be accepted by others. You need to accept yourself.
Thich Nhat Hanh
The worst loneliness is to not be comfortable with yourself.
Mark Twain
Wanting to be someone else is a waste of who you are.
Kurt Cobain
Often, it’s not about becoming a new person, but becoming the person you were meant to be, and already are, but don’t know how to be.
Heath L. Buckmaster
The most terrifying thing is to accept oneself completely.
C.G. Jung
Once we believe in ourselves, we can risk curiosity, wonder, spontaneous delight, or any experience that reveals the human spirit.
E.E. Cummings
It is not worth the while to let our imperfections disturb us always.
Henry David Thoreau
Too many people overvalue what they are not and undervalue what they are.
Malcolm S. Forbes
Your problem is you’re too busy holding onto your unworthiness.
Ram Dass
It is never too late to be what you might have been.
George Eliot