It was a while ago that I came across this saying. I know I found it on the Animal site – by a writer called G Diesel. But I can’t for the life of me find the article again.
I just did a quick Google search… apparently:
To be able at any moment to sacrifice what we are for what we could become.
Was written by Charles Dubois. A smart man.
And I could agree with this statement more. We are whoever we are in a particular moment, let there’s this strong attachment to who we’ve been – we’re comfortable there, it’s a known quantity. But we’re never going to be the same. In fact the greatest growth occurs when we change – sometimes irrevocably.
We have to be comfortable letting go of that comfort and certainty (?) of identity in order to grow. I did that when I emigrated. I do that when I go on my hikes. It’s so freeing.
And recently I realized another important statement I mentioned in the previous post: freedom from / without attachment. That insight originated from the realization that having / owning stuff isn’t bad. But defining yourself through what you have and being tied to it – through debt – has intense consequences.
Both of these elements – the ability to sacrifice and the ability to be free from attachment – are two things that I’ve grown away from. I was a lot more free / independent (independence in the context of life / materialism) a couple of years ago. I experienced that in a huge way when I returned from my trek last year. It’s the happiest I’ve been in my entire life. I want to have that statement marked. Forever.