The amazing thing about life is that there is this process of discovery.  We often talk about rock bottom in reference to a low point where we know we need to turn around, suggesting we can climb out.  But as I continue this journey in life, it feels more like there are never ending layers of information, things to discover about ourselves.  It isn’t just an inward journey where we have to get to the core, it builds outward as well.  The universe operates infinitely inward and outward—there truly is no end.  The more experiences we have in life, the more layers we add, the more we have to learn from.  As we learn more, we decide more about what we want and we start taking actions toward that goal.  There is always more; more we can develop in ourselves, more we can learn and build.  I used to look at life as something to figure out, something with a specific destination and that was who we were.  The truth is we are constantly changing and shifting direction.  We can become anything we want to at any time.  We are allowed to integrate and take our experiences and make them something else.  I’ve always tried to keep the outer layer shiny and clean, something palatable and acceptable to other people.  When we only care about what we look like, we lose the depth within.  We have to go further and further in until we find the depts of who we are and then we have to allow that to expand infinitely outward like a ripple to the universe.  The process of discovery is creation. 

Our evolution is never really complete.  The more we listen, the more we find.  The fact that we have this genetic makeup with this ability to relate to our thoughts and experiences and feelings gives us an incredibly unique experience.  It’s physical and carnal but a result of cerebral output.  It means we have a limitless portal in our minds—we can truly become anything we want and then we can become something new.  We can embrace our lives and redefine them.  I’ve made the same mistake so many do in this self-help journey: I’ve tried to define it.  Yes, we need boundaries and we need parameters so we can better define the journey and know our limits.  But the truth is that we need to work on destroying those limits and allow ourselves to operate outside a single definition.  We aren’t one thing—we truly are limitless.   The mind has the capacity to create literally ANYTHING—we need to find ways to bring it into the physical reality.  To that end, because we are limitless, we don’t have an end point.  Self-discovery doesn’t have an endpoint.  Self-help is about maintaining our ability to create the life we want without shame or fear—to always live in that alchemic zone of creation.  We have the opportunity to become whatever we want to through embracing who we are, dedication, and focus. 

Life isn’t designed for us to end in a shiny package, pretty, but desiccated and unused. We are meant to be full of joy, love, excitement, life.  We are meant to show the wear of our stories, each line a mark of a memory we etched in the confines of our skin.  Sure, looking pretty is nice, but it’s also pretty boring.  Restrictive.  And from personal experience, I can say with 1000000% certainty that looking good isn’t indicative of a damn thing that occurs beneath the surface.  Anyone can create the image that something looks good—the truth is that the prettiest packages can conceal some of the darkest secrets.  We need to remember that making something look good doesn’t mean it IS good. That isn’t to say a lotus can’t come from the mud.  In fact, that is the point of this piece: we need to enjoy the process of discovery and going deep enough to find where the lotus blooms.  Allow it to emerge from each of us: don’t be afraid of the dark or the light.  Simply use each for what it is.  The darkness protects the fragility of who we are and the light brings that element out of us.  Let it unfold, through the mud and all.  And have fun learning along the way.  Don’t pinpoint an end date because when we stop learning and experiencing life, we are dead.  Just enjoy the journey along the way.