Today I see that in spiritual growth I lose my life to find it. This is just the opposite of establishing my identity in a worldly way, which lies in surrounding myself with things that I want to represent me. In this way I define and seek a sense of self through representation. I know now that I cannot find me in a reflection of myself. When I do this, my eyes are constantly focused outward, and I forget that it is through an inner gazing that I come to know who I am and what life is all about. The sense of loss I may experience when I cease looking for my true identity in objects outside myself disappears when I look within for my life and meaning.

I let go of my smaller self to know my larger self.

In my end is my beginning.
T. S. Eliot