Monday, November 12, 2007

The Morning After

Now that Alter Ego is officially over (we should probably change the banner back to "normal"), I found myself thinking again about the reasons Ang and I are on this little adventure.

This is my latest. . .

"The greatest hazard of all, losing one's self, can occur very quietly in the world, as if it were nothing at all. No other loss can occur so quietly; any other loss - an arm, a leg, five dollars, a wife, etc. - is sure to be noticed."
~The Sickness Unto Death

Life gets in the way of knowing who you really are. Taking care of a family, balancing a career, worrying about money, Christmas shopping. The daily-ness of life gets in the way of knowing who you are, what you stand for, what your purpose. Taking the time to think about these important things - taking the time to take care of our self - does not make us self-obsessed or selfish. It makes us a stronger people.

8 comments:

Liz Allman said...

I think this may be your best quote yet, Barb!!! This one is going up on my inspiration board!

Elizabeth said...

I love this, the change, and the new stuff to come! I am still here plugging along even if I don't always play! Very thought provoking and I like that!

Shelley said...

this quote SO totally hit me - LOVE it. thank you so much for putting yourselves out there and making me think a little bit more... about me.

Heather said...

I am currently reading Back When We Were Grownups, by Anne Tyler. It's about a woman who is in her 50s and realizes she's not who she was supposed to be.

I didn't always post, partly because some of it was too personal to share with the world on my blog, but I always enjoyed and appreciated the Alter Ego challenges!

Beth said...

Amen!

Katrina said...

you brought tears to my eyes with that quote...it's not the first time today that I've cried, but at least this time it was for powerful words...

Unknown said...

You are right, and your quote is excellant! It is often easy to get lost in the sea of your own life, thanks for tossing out a life preserver!
Blessings!

Sean said...

I met my new students for the first time today and quickly was reminded how easy it was to lose one's self. They came into the classroom as individuals, but as one student would challenge for attention, students could go from "set on what I'm doing" to "rowdy" in a quick breath. So easily were they able to be distracted from who they were. I will need to make it one of my focus points to see that they are given more opportunity to remain an individual and not a number in the crowd.