Jon

“All your life you tried to be good enough for somebody else, and you left yourself last. You sacrificed your personal freedom to live according to somebody else’s point of view. You tried to be good enough for your mother, your father, your teachers, your beloved, your children, your religion, and society. After trying for so many years, you try to be good enough for yourself, and you find out that you’re not good enough for yourself.”
― Miguel Ruiz, The Fifth Agreement: A Practical Guide to Self-Mastery

“The warrior who has released the old dream of his domestication—along with the rules and behaviors dictated by that programming—learns to listen to the instructions of his feelings. He is no longer a puppet of his emotional reactions. His recapitulation has revealed and rejected the lies from the past, and replaced them with the truth of self-acceptance and universal perfection. Without his emotional baggage, he is able to listen to the quieter truth that arises in him in every moment.”
― Allan Hardman, The Everything Toltec Wisdom Book: A Complete Guide to the Ancient Wisdoms

“By holding onto past trauma, we deny ourselves healing. By feeling self-conscious, we deny our own self-worth. By finding fault in other people's actions, we deny ourselves compassion. By feeling hopeless, we deny ourselves faith. By collecting excuses, we deny ourselves our own power. By clinging to our losses, we miss out on the miracles happening now. By feeling skeptical, stressed, worried, paranoid, or anxious, we deny ourselves contentment and trust. By feeling envious of the others, we deny ourselves abundance. By waiting for the weekend to come, we deny ourselves presence and gratitude. By becoming offended or defensive, we deny ourselves peace. By holding a grudge, seeking revenge, or gossiping about other people, we deny ourselves security. By seeking attention and validation, we deny ourselves completeness. By operating on autopilot, we deny ourselves inspiration. By reacting to situations unconsciously, we deny ourselves discernment. By closing our hearts, we deny ourselves love.”
― Mathew Micheletti, The Inner Work: An Invitation to True Freedom and Lasting Happiness

“As time goes on, the free, happy, innocent child of bliss becomes buried deep underneath the layers of fear for so many years that even you forget your true identity. You’ve been wearing the protective layers for so long that you completely overlooked the fact that you could just take them all off at any point.”
― Mathew Micheletti, The Inner Work: An Invitation to True Freedom and Lasting Happiness