Books to Help you Find Yourself

Finding yourself was never something that I was encouraged to do growing up. But I think it’s one of the most important steps in being able to live purposefully. Here are some really important books I’ve read that helped encourage me to start trying to find myself. Maybe they can help you too. (in no particular order, pick the ones that speaks to you)

Let Your Life Speak: Listening for the Voice of Vocation

Our deepest calling is to grow into our own authentic selfhood, whether or not it conforms to some image of who we ought to be. As we do so, we will not only find the joy that every human being seeks – we will also find our path of authentic service in the world. True vocation joins self and service, as Frederick Buechner asserts when he defines vocation as “the place where your deep gladness meets the world’s deep need”.

– Let Your Life Speak: Parker J. Palmer

The Book of Dharma: Making Enlightened Choices

One of the strange things about life is that no matter how hard we try, we remain incomplete and unfulfilled until we are perfectly ourselves. When we express ourselves unreservedly, and are no longer ashamed of who we are, we become beautiful. Not just in our own eyes, but in the eyes of everyone around us.

– The Book of Dharma: Simon Hass

The Untethered Soul: The Journey Beyond Yourself
The Big Leap: Conquer Your Hidden Fear and Take Life to the Next Level—A Transformative Guide to Overcoming Fears and False Beliefs for Personal Growth and Success

The exploration of Self is inextricably interwoven with the unfolding of one’s life. The natural ups and downs of life can either generate personal growth or create personal fears. Which of these dominates is completely dependent upon how we view change. Change can be viewed as exciting or frightening, but regardless of how we view it, we must all face the fact that change is the very nature of life. If you have a lot of fear, you won’t like change. You’ll try to create a world around you that is predictable, controllable, and definable. You’ll try to create a world that doesn’t stimulate your fears. Fear doesn’t want to feel itself; it’s actually afraid of itself. So you utilize the mind in an attempt to manipulate life for the purpose of not feeling fear.   

– The Untethered Soul: Michael Singer

I knew I was important and needed. I felt I was a part of things. We all deserve to feel this way. Each of us is here for a reason, to learn and grow and to give our gifts. When we are able to do so, we’re filled with the creative life energy that I call the ‘Juice’

– The Well-Lived Life: Gladys McGarey MD