Why Self Growth Is A Heroic QuestSelf growth is really the journey from unconsciousness to consciousness. All mediocrity, all disappointments, all failures are due to unconsciousness. We make mistakes because we are not aware enough and we blunder because we don’t know any better. The journey from unconsciousness to consciousness, transforming us from oblivious to aware and from ignorant to wise is perhaps the most heroic journey of all. Self growth is achieving inner clarity and learning how to do things right--because we have discovered the correct answers, finding success by isolating precise patterns of practiced skill. In the early phase of our lives, we are quickly introduced to the collective unconsciousness, the fables and foibles of past generations. Although initiated into the myth of our original sins, we are denied recognition of our original blessings, and it is only much later that we even recognize ourselves as souls. We don’t have a clue that we are more than human beings. We do have an idea about God and the spiritual life, but because they are such inaccurate ideas, calculated to promote social conformity, they can be classified as similar in value to the superstitious beliefs of indigenous tribes in primitive cultures. Not only do we not recognize our heroic journey, we deliberately do all sorts of absurd things to completely sabotage the secret plans our soul made before it entered this plane. It is only when we get the urge for self growth that we begin to look more closely at the difference between things. Only then does discrimination replace confusion, wisdom and foresight replace fatuous impulse, and discipline replace instant gratification. Those who discover knowledge as the key to refining intellect discover how awareness is a sure guide to good fortune. Somewhere along the way, a clue revealed in a book read or a conversation overheard, an angelic encounter, a whisper from our spiritual guides, we become aware that there is much more to our tragicomic world. It is only after immersion in more truth, only after healing of past inhibitions, wounds, and misinterpretations, and only after surviving a multitude of calamities that we begin to marvel at how we have been guided by invisible hands all along, hands that guided us to awareness. Only once we begin the quest for self growth and identify our true interests do we begin to unravel the mystery of our soul's longings. What we find is astonishing. The mythologist Joseph Campbell summarizes the surprise awaiting us on this heroic journey: “We have not even to risk the adventure alone, for the heroes of all time have gone before us--the labyrinth is thoroughly known. We have only to follow the thread of the hero path, and where we had thought to find an abomination, we shall find a god; where we had thought to slay another, we shall slay ourselves; where we had thought to travel outward, we shall come to the center of our own existence. And where we had thought to be alone, we shall be with all the world.” When we are ready for self growth and ready to appreciate our inner power, we seek knowledge that will clarify our intentions and refine our purpose. During the heroic journey to greater awareness, we become completely different people. And the more we immerse ourselves in pondering the meaning of everything we now encounter, the faster we outpace even our most aware moments. Yet no matter how much we learn about ourselves or how much we strive to live as a positive force in the world, we are always much more than we can ever think, feel, or experience. When we are ready for self growth, we walk with courage, embarking on a journey beyond the map where dragons roam. It is a time of mystical transformation. Again, Joseph Campbell provides a reliable guide on what to expect on the heroic journey: “Wherever the hero may wander, whatever he may do, he is ever in the presence of his own essence—for he has the perfected eye to see.” Self growth is not for the faint of heart; it is only for those who are tired of the web of deceit that binds the soul and robs it of the power to act decisively and magnificently.
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