Ladan’s Reviews > The Art of Self Discovery > Status Update

Understanding is power. Even if the facts we encounter initially are a bit frightening, we are at our strongest when we align ourselves with reality rather than when we seek to evade it. If we allow ourselves to let in what is true, fully experience it, and be willing to stand in its presence, new ideas, new possibilities, new solutions, and new directions begin to occur to us.

Of all the judgments we pass in life, none is as important as the one we pass on ourselves. Our self-concept tends to be our destiny.

I can tell you what I would like you to do; and I can express all of this without telling you that you are a worthless human being (moralizing), that your intention was to hurt me (psychologizing), or that you are just like my previous spouse (character assassination). I do not need to attack your self-esteem.

If you are tempted to cry to yourself, "But what can I do about feelings and emotions that hurt?" my answer is, "Breathe deeply and experience them." Hear what they are trying to tell you. Learn from them. Allow them to have their voice. In experiencing them fully, you will learn to let go of them. It will happen naturally. Trust yourself.

In exploring the role of parental influence on subsequent development, the purpose here is not to blame but to understand.

you might be interested to know that some years ago, an experiment was
conducted in which one group with emotional problems experienced psychotherapy, a second group did nothing, and a third group kept a daily journal devoted to self-examination and self-reflection. At the end of six months, the group that kept the journal showed the greatest degree of progress!

We know far more than we are aware of knowing. The challenge is to gain access to that knowledge, to bring it into explicit awareness. Sentence completion is a means to this end.

The way to do it is to do it, rather than to speculate about whether you can do it.

a poor self concept leads to happiness anxiety, which leads to self sabotaging behavior.