By Deepak Chopra and Annie B. Bond
True self-esteem is not the same thing as improving your self-image. Self-image results from what other people think of you. The true self lies beyond images. It can be found at a level of existence that is independent of the good and bad opinions of others. It is fearless. It has infinite worth. When you shift your identity from your self-image to your true self, you will find happiness that no one can take away from you.
True being has five qualities, none of which is created by external things, events, or other people.
1. Your true being is connected to all that exists.
2. It has no limitations.
3. It has infinite creativity.
4. It is fearless, and willing to step into the unknown.
5. Intention from the level of being is powerful and can orchestrate synchronicity (a perfect meshing of outside circumstances to bring your intention).
—Deepak Chopra, from The Ultimate Happiness Prescription (Harmony Books, 2009).
Find a True Way of Living
Our intuition knows nature is where we belong and who we are. You always know when you are in the presence of the highly vibrant essence of nature. The Cherokee say that there is no name for this energy because it is so beyond our imagination that there aren’t any words in the language to describe it. Bu all of us know it.
We know it when there is a sparkling day by the ocean and we see a whale breach or when a full dozen goldfinches swarm the birdfeeders,, bright yellow against the early spring landscape of bright leaf green. We know it when a hummingbird comes to drink the nectar of bee balm. We know it when meeting our baby for the first time. Or when we see a dazzling moonlight reflected off the winter snow, and we hear the restless animals in the woods.
The contrasts between nature in its full radiance and nature in a polluted state are endless. The ways in which these differences affect our own daily lives are endless as well. The contrasts are so stark that at times, you may wonder why most of the world chooses to live surrounded by pollution and synthetics.
—Annie B. Bond, from Home Enlightenment (Rodale, 2007).