Who have you ever truly allowed to reach your innermost being, without first protecting it with a mental buffer?

No one. Not even yourself.

I read this sentence yesterday in the book “The Untethered Soul” by Michael A. Singer – and like every good student, I immediately began translating it into my own life.
There is serious truth in it.

From an early age, we dream of who we want to become when we grow up.
How we will look.
How we will present ourselves.
What position we want to reach. How far we want to progress. Perhaps open our own business, lead teams, have the power to change things.
If we work hard and believe in it – success should be the reward, right?

But in that silence, between the lines of the book, stands the question:
What if one day we do the opposite of everything we usually do?
Not to sabotage ourselves – but to see what truly moves us.

Always avoiding heights and open spaces, for the hundredth time I go to meet fear and the cliffs…

I haven’t completely overcome it yet, but each time I go further and deeper.
For me – that is progress.

And so I ask myself:
How much does our career truly define us?
For security? For ego? Or because we believe that’s how it should be?
And yes – in it, we find validation.

We belong. We are seen. We give. We lead. We hold authority.
Success becomes nourishment. Nourishment for our ego.
And it feels so good.

Like the eternal Chanel No. 5.

But then we ask:
Where is the self in all this?
And if we haven’t fully discovered it yet…
Then who are we – really?

—
The Untethered Soul, Michael A. Singer