What You Can Be, You Must Be

Posted on by Sandi Amorim 35 Conversations

 

“What one can be, one must be.” – Abraham Maslow

What one can be, one must be. - Abraham Maslow

Imagine your life growing from a seed; one seed uniquely, divinely you, growing roots as an expression of you.

In a world driven by goals and results, it’s much too easy to forget that what there is to do is BE yourself.

What if that is your life’s purpose? Wouldn’t it be a relief to stop trying so hard?

What you can be, you must be. You cannot change your roots.

An acorn must become an oak tree, and you must become you.

When you resist, you kick the door open to suffering.

What if the only resolution you ever need to make ever in life is this. . .

“I resolve to become more fully myself.”

Say it out loud.

Write it on your bathroom mirror.

Your roots, like the roots of any tree, need care and nourishment to grow and bear fruit, and now is the best time to begin.

How can you deepen, and become more fully yourself?

I began with Maslow’s quote, so let me continue with a few more of his wise words.

 

1.  “A musician must make music, an artist must paint, a poet must write, if he is to be ultimately at peace with himself.”

What must you do? You know that thing, deep in your heart that is dying to be expressed. . .let it out.

This is your work, and until you get clear, everything else is distraction.

 

2.  “All the evidence that we have indicates that it is reasonable to assume in practically every human being, and certainly in almost every newborn baby, that there is an active will toward health, an impulse towards growth, or towards the actualization.”

Are you using your active will toward health, growth and well-being? Or is it being squandered while you wait for the elusive someday?

Tell the truth and take a new action. Someday ain’t never happening.

 

3.  “Growth must be chosen again and again; fear must be overcome again and again.”

Maybe you chose, some time in the past. That was then, this is now.

The key is choosing again and again. Fear will continue to raise its head and unless you continue to choose, it will stop you.

 

4.  “The sacred is in the ordinary… To be looking elsewhere for miracles is a sure sign of ignorance that everything is miraculous.”

Everything is miraculous.

What you want and how you express it? Miraculous when you share it with others. Stingy and sad when you keep it to yourself.

 

5.  “If I were dropped out of a plane into the ocean and told the nearest land was a thousand miles away, I’d still swim.”

Against all odds, what would you do no matter what? That’s what there is to do now.

 

6.  “No great deed, private or public, has ever been undertaken in a bliss of certainty.”

Waiting for certainty is like waiting for someday. Stop waiting.

You just have to take one action. Now.

 

7.  “Capacities clamor to be used, and cease in their clamor only when they are used sufficiently.”

Stop focusing on your weaknesses. Your capacities, your strengths are there to be used. Stop ignoring them.

 

8.  “We are not in a position in which we have nothing to work with. We already have capacities, talents, direction, missions, callings.”

Said another way,  you already have everything you need.

You don’t need another training, certification, more letters behind your name.

Stop spending your time and money on things that will make no difference.

 

9.  “You will either step forward into growth or you will step back into safety.”

Back into safety and hanging out with your lizard brain.

Safe, boring and soul-sucking. Don’t go there.

 

10. “If you plan on being anything less than you are capable of being, you will probably be unhappy all the days of your life.”

Notice where you’re trying hard and producing crappy results. Stop. This is your cue that you’re not taking care of your needs.

Put your effort on that which will feel good. Forget the rest.

11. “We fear to know the fearsome and unsavory aspects of ourselves, but we fear even more to know the godlike in ourselves”

That dark side you try so hard to keep hidden? Claim it.

Only then will you begin to shine.

And make no mistake, that IS what you’re here for.

 

35 conversations started on “What You Can Be, You Must Be”

  1. This post is going to go in my “Inspiration from Sandi” file.  Yes, I do have such a thing.  How could it not go there?  It contains a link to my favorite post of yours of all time (you know which one), a link to another post in which you cite my favorite quote of all time (the Marianne Williamson one), and incredibly wise words from Abraham Maslow and Sandi Amorim. 
    How will I deepen and become more fully myself today?  By doing something I have been putting off to do “someday.”  In this case, someday has been quite literally years.  I’m going to open up the box called “My Writing” and go through its contents.  Yes, there is a lot of pain there, probably some pretty awful writing, and some truths I don’t really want to realize.  But it’s my history.  It’s who I was.  It’s the documentation of how I became who I am today.
    Why am I opening up this can of writing worms?  I have no idea why.  I just know it’s time — something I didn’t realize until I read this post.  Your words are nudging my world, Sandi, damn you.  But I know I’ll thank you later.  I always do.

    1. Carol Hess Sometimes, reviewing the past (for the purpose of learning and moving forward) is the best thing we can do, even if it seems like a can of worms at first. And I agree that it’s one way of documenting how you become who you are. You wouldn’t go there unless it was time, and I for one, can hardly wait to see what will be revealed!

  2. Well.  I have been not fighting what I am, exactly, but probably trying to push it aside because I couldn’t conceive of how I could do and be that AND make money.  What I am, what I’ve known I am from the time I was 5-years-old, is a teacher.  I live it and breathe it.  I am in a flow state when I’m in that place…it is almost effortless.
    It took me a couple of years of looking outside of this part of me (and never making a sincere go of it because the thought of leaving it behind–no matter how much $$$ I could make) to realize I will be miserable without it.  Even IF my other dreams that require a larger income are realized.
    Once I decided to lean into that and own it, the path towards more money has become clearer.  In an online conversation yesterday I realized that things I know and are able to do would be highly valued–and useful–to a community willing to pay for it.  I felt alive and electric and fully in my purpose in that conversation, something I haven’t sincerely felt in a really long time.
    So…I think we need to own who we are but question our assumptions about how we think that will limit us.  I spent 17 years believing I was condemned to a life of financial strain and martyrdom because I’m a classroom teacher.  I now see other possibilities, but only because I decided to own my strengths, stop fighting, and start looking for a way to have it all.

    1. Ellen Berg Imagine what’s possible with that out of the way! Huge my friend, huge. Can’t wait for the Renegade Schoolhouse to launch and transform the way we teach and learn. HUGE!

  3. I *love* this! The title drew me right in.  I spent a lifetime resisting who I was (with lots of external help) and only in the last several years (especially the last year) have I begun to enjoy the becoming of me, and the possibilities each moment presents to celebrate the abundance available, right here.  
    When I resisted, I became severely physically ill (doctors thought my body was rejecting my stomach); when I began embracing and celebrating, my entire world expanded into this “now”.  I just received a comment “thank you for your light”..after having lived many years being criticized and abused for being light, to be in this space of cultivating and sharing it is to be living infinite possibility.  A practice of presence.  
    Yes! what you can be *you must be*; thank you for the quotes, each is a beautiful gift.  And might I add, may you allow your creative expressions, your “being” to evolve as you learn and grow and heal and experiment and explore…because *then* you will have the added joy of inner peace as you move through World.

    1. JoyChristin Isn’t it a relief to stop resisting and just BE? I know you agree dear Joy, it’s just so much fun to say 😉 
      As I was researching the quotes, I had the thought that each of them on their own could have been a blog post. So much inspiration in the world!

  4. Hi Sandi,
    Being yourself is a natural as can be. No comparisons with others, no trying to be ‘someone else’. The issue for many is…..is this really what I am meant to be?…the light comes on for some & they improve themselves to be the best version of themselves … others stay in the dark, more’s the pity. Thankyou for this.
    Be good to yourself
    David

    1. David Stevens I’ve begun to think there is too much time spent on “is this really what I am meant to be” and our time would be better spent on feeling good and then being whatever results from that. It’s a pitfall to think it can all be sorted out in the head, and I say that as someone who tends to be quite heady 😉

      1. Sandi Amorim David Stevens I hear where you are coming from Sandi…however ‘feeling good’ generally comes from a sense of being in a place that you are meant to be…my original response relates to the many that aren’t…keep your great work going,
        be good to yourself
        David

  5. Love this line – “Someday ain’t never happening.” That could be taped to my mirror as a reminder. Great encouragement to honor ourselves enough to be free to be who we are meant to be. Life is short and we only have today. Great reminder. Thank you!

    1. Cathy Taughinbaugh Seems we all fall prey to someday thinking at some point, so reminders are definitely required. And sometimes, I write these reminders as much for myself as anyone else!

  7. Sandi, this entire post is so brilliant, it could be a book – each question accompanied by one of your beautiful images and space to ponder the query.
    You’ve inspired me again today, as always and reminded me of beautiful insights that not only guide me in the word I do with my clients, but also the work I do for myself.

    1. Sabrina at MyMiBoSo Another great project idea; must add to notebook 😉
      Abraham Maslow inspired me and I’m just passing it on my friend. Glad it worked!

    2. Sabrina at MyMiBoSo Another great project idea; must add to notebook 😉
      Abraham Maslow inspired me and I’m just passing it on my friend. Glad it worked!

  8. Sandi this is wonderful! I’ve got to get a book by Maslow now, though I suspect you’ve already distilled (and elaborated on – so well) the best of his wisdom!
    I was particularly taken with #s 3 and 9. I never thought a lot about growth being a part of success, but of course it it! And what inspired me most was a spin you put on a thought I’m sure I’ve thought before, but not in this way: “you must become you.” How obvious and yet when put in a different way, how much like a swat on the rear! Thanks for that! LOL
    Lori

    1. Lori Oh yeah, #3 is a tough one, and an ongoing practice. 
      “You must become you” I’ve read that before too but this time it washed over me like relief. There’s nothing else for me to do except become more fully myself. That’s it. Simplified and powerful. Everything else will flow from there. 
      Swats available any time 😉

  9. I love this post so much, Sandi. Being yourself, the greatest thing we can do, but the biggest challenge we will ever face. It’s so easy these days to compare yourself to others, to want what they have and do what they do, isn’t it? Maybe it’s human nature, maybe it’s a sign of the times we live in. Comparing is my biggest struggle, yet when I stop and just “am” for a moment, I am calm, happy and FREE. Now, the work begins to make those fleeting moments into longer ones until one day, it’s OK to just be me.

    1. anneso87 I think it may be a sign of the times because the Internet has made it that much easier to see what others are up to. For me, that makes my time unplugged even more precious, for it is when I spend time with myself that I remember who I really am. Have you ever done a silent retreat?

    2. anneso87 I think it may be a sign of the times because the Internet has made it that much easier to see what others are up to. For me, that makes my time unplugged even more precious, for it is when I spend time with myself that I remember who I really am. Have you ever done a silent retreat?

        3. anneso87 I aim for twice a year, 4-5 days each time. If I can’t make that happen, I try to schedule a day here and there where I unplug completely and give myself a 24 hour silence at home.

  10. Um, you forgot this one:
    “Today you are You, that is truer than true. There is no one alive who is Youer than You.” – Dr. Seuss
    Sorry…just being my smartass self!! ;-D
    My favorite quote above is “Growth must be chosen again and again; fear must be overcome again and again.” Really, we have to decide every single day that we’re going to express our uniqueness in spite of all the things telling us to conform or stay quiet.
    I like to think of myself as a channel for the universal life force, and authentic self-expression is how I allow that force to flow.

    1. Joshua Wilner/A Writer Writes It’s not always easy and I think expecting it to be is a pitfall many fall into. But my view is that since everything takes some amount of effort why not put it on the things that are truly worthwhile in life!

  13. Lovely, how the universe conspires to help us get the message – almost with a frying pan gong sometimes… Thank you, San.  Becoming our own magnificence fearlessly – the message also in a book I am reading right now – Anita Moorjani on her learnings from her near-death experience.  Your post is a more concise and quicker read though 😉
    Lisa

  14. I am writing. Every single day. And that has helped me get in touch with my inner wisdom. It has helped me learn things about myself that I didn’t know. I’ve learned to honor my process and I’ve finally embraced the idea of a shitty first draft. When I get stuck on something, or get anxious and am not sure why, I write. A 10 minute free-writing exercise can do wonders for clarity. And so, every day, I become myself a little more fully.

    1. Erica Holthausen I love that Erica, that 10 minutes a day is probably the best gift you could ever give yourself. I’m starting to feel that way (remembering, because I’ve felt it before) about my meditation practice. Funny creatures, us human beings…forgetting what works to have us become more fully ourselves.

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