“Life shrinks or expands in proportion to one’s courage.” — Anaïs Nin

''How courageous it is to say: "I feel empty, I feel deficient, and I won't attempt to fill it. I want to see the truth. I want to experience the reality of me. I refuse to manipulate. I want to wake up regardless of how painful it is." Only the hero will take this attitude, for it is a heroic act to see your deficiency, your neediness, your emptiness, and yet not try to manipulate your life to fill it. We are so compulsive, so driven to manipulate, to avoid feeling this basic deficiency of our personal ego. But believe me, my friend, there's no other way towards fullness. The Divine will not pour His grace if you don't accept your deficiency and stop manipulating. Manipulation, striving to fill this emptiness, is only the ''devil'' (ego) doing its efficient work. It is constantly working to hide its weakness. ~ A.H. Almaas

“If we do not believe within ourselves this deeply rooted feeling that there is something higher than ourselves, we shall never find the strength to evolve into something higher.” ― Rudolf Steiner

“When we are willing to stay even a moment with uncomfortable energy, we gradually learn not to fear it.” — Pema Chodron