Self Realization
 

You are reading from the book Touchstones.

Self-realization is not a matter of withdrawal from a corrupt world or narcissistic contemplation of oneself. An individual becomes a person by enjoying the world and contributing to it.
--Francine Klagsbrun

After we admitted our self-destructive patterns and gave them up, there were many days when we said, "Now what? Is that all there is? I need some answers. How should I live? How can I feel whole? How can I feel like a real person?" These questions may feel too painful to answer. These are among the first spiritual questions we encounter in recovery, and we must not hide or escape from them. They are valuable to us, and we need to follow their urgings.

We are asking these questions as if they were new and unique. But through the centuries many people have asked them too. They found answers we can learn from. They tell us to get engaged with life, take time for reflection, learn to enjoy it where we can, and try to make a contribution.

Today, I will listen to my questions and doubts as urgings from my Higher Power, pushing me to grow. I will be involved in living.

I am right there now. And it's scary.

Ann, '
I love this reading. There is a great book by Harold Kushner, called When All You've Ever Wanted Isn't Enough: The Search for a Life that Matters. In it, Kushner uses what he calls "the most dangerous book in the Bible, the Book of Ecclesiastes. He uses it to investigate that universal need - living a life that matters.
I highly recommend it to anyone asking these questions.
And even to those who think they've found the answers! :wink3:

Thanks for sharing!
Shalom!