The important thing is this: to be able at any moment to sacrifice what we are for what we could become.
~ Charles Du Bos
I love this quote. We get so hung up on our precious little definition of ourselves – even if that definition is something we profess not to like. “I’m depressed”, “I’m shy”, “I’m just not that kind of person”, “I would never bungee jump”, “I always procrastinate”… etcetera. We create these labels for ourselves and then identify with them, and woe betide anyone or any experience that tries to take them away from us.
These labels come from all sorts of things – parents, teachers, past experiences, etc. But one thing is for sure – they come from the past. They come from who you have been or used to be or have at some point decided to be. They are only true in the now because you keep clinging to them and using them to define yourself. They will only be true in the future if you continue to choose them to be.
Or… you could let them go and allow yourself to grow into the person you might become.
I love this quote because to me it says: to move and grow, you have to be prepared to let go of all the labels you have clung to, all the little definitions you have for yourself. Only then, in the space that you have created, may the person you could become have a chance to move in.
At any moment – in THIS moment – we must be willing to sacrifice the ways we have decided to identify ourselves… and see what steps in to take their place. This is growth.
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