The Art of Self-Discovery

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Very powerful exercises for building self-esteem. If done in a spirit of complete openness and vulnerability—with no fear of what we might find.

http://happinesscounseling.com/The_Art_Of_Self-Discovery_Nathaniel_Branden.pdf

Quotes

We are the only species able to ask such a question; the only species able to ponder our own experience and its possible meaning. We ask: "Where am I going—and why?" "What do I want—and why?" "What does it imply about me that I feel what I feel—or that I do what I do?" We are beings who are able to think—and, most extraordinary of all, to think about ourselves, to question our thoughts, feelings, and behavior. So that, as our life advances, we are able to answer the question "Who am I?" on deeper and deeper levels. Such, at least, is our potential. But it is an option we can adopt only by choice. We are not compelled to think about ourselves or about anything else. We can move through our existence like sleepwalkers—and this, tragically, is just how much of humanity chooses to live. The result is a chronic condition of self- estrangement and self-alienation. We are chronically lonely—for ourselves. We remain a person we have not chosen to meet.