Recently I have been reflecting on the tension that we can experience between the desire to grow and expand into new, undiscovered areas of being and the strong counterforce of wishing to resist change and cling to the familiar. This has been a strong theme that I have wrestled with over many years, and also witnessed in others peoples lives. Many years ago I came across a quote in a book by humanist psychologist Abraham Maslow that seemed to shake me to my very core. I found it calling out a voice of warning should I allow myself to consciously live a reduced life.
“There is an impulse to be the best, the very best you are capable of becoming. If you deliberately plan to be less than you are capable of being , then I warn you that you’ll be deeply unhappy for the rest of your life. “