”Finally I am coming to the conclusion that my highest ambition is to be what I already am….For it is the unaccepted self that stands in my way—and will continue to do so as long as it is not accepted. When it has been accepted—it is my own stepping stone to what is above me.”
—Thomas Merton, from A Search for Solitude: The Journals of Thomas Merton, October 2, 1958
I love these lines from Merton’s journal and the paradox he is highlighting—in the act of fully accepting ourselves we begin to discover an even deeper and wider self…and we begin to live from there.
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