There is one thing most of us long for: A new beginning.

Doesn’t it feel as though we carry so much baggage with us? Old pains, resentments, fears, insecurities — all based on past experiences that continue to live on in our minds and imaginations.

Wouldn’t it be wonderful to leave all that behind and just start over, released of that burden? There would be no carried-over pain or sense of limitation. We could step forward into life without the shackles of negative expectations. Our hearts would be open to new possibilities.

It’s what we say we want, but the catch is, haven’t we said this a thousand times? And yet, has anything truly changed? Unfortunately, in most cases, nothing has changed at all.

How many times have we entered a new career, moved to a new place, started a new relationship? And yet, isn’t it just a matter of time before we find ourselves back to the same kind of life? The outer circumstances may be different, but we still feel the same sadness, the same anxiety, the same sense that something is missing. We still suffer from the same hair-trigger emotions. The kinds of problems we face are basically the same.

So, is real change possible? Can our lives ever be new?

The answer is a resounding Yes, and the key to experiencing this newness has been given to us by the great sages for millennia. They have revealed to us a mistake we all make that guarantees we won’t succeed at making genuine change.

The mistake is that we try to change our lives from the outside in. But the change must start from the inside out – from within our own nature.

It’s all an inside story, and that’s why it can’t work just to change our weight, our job, or our significant other. We ourselves must change to our very core. It’s the self that looks out at the world, defines it, and reacts to it, that actually creates the life we experience.

So, to change events, to change the life we lead, we must start by changing ourselves. When we are new inside, everything on the outside will be new.

Here is a taste of ancient and modern wisdom that stresses this very point:

“If you want to awaken all of humanity, then awaken all of yourself. If you want to eliminate the suffering in the world, then eliminate all that is dark and negative in yourself. Truly, the greatest gift you have to give is that of your own self-transformation.” ~ Lao Tse (604 B.C.E.)

“Yesterday, I was clever so I wanted to change the world. Today I am wise, so I am changing myself.” ~ Jalal al din Rumi (1207)

“We would come into a new reality of our being and perceive everything in a new relation if we can stand still from self-thinking and self-willing and stop the wheel of imagination and the senses.” ~ Jacob Boehme (1575)

“For the outward world is but a glass, a representation of the inward; and everything, and variety of things in temporal nature, must have its root or hidden cause in something that is more inward.” ~ William Law (1686)

“To change what you get you must change who you are.” ~ Vernon Howard (1918)

“Making a conscious effort to change, in the moment that calls for it, comes with the cost of seeing ourselves as we really are. Enduring the totality of this revelation is the price of awakening, and this awakening is the herald of true self-transformation.” ~ Guy Finley (1949)

“But How Do I Make This Kind of Change?”

Start by joining us for free live-streamed talks every Sunday morning and Wednesday evening.

Guy Finley has been helping men and women progress on their inner journey for over 40 years. And you are invited to join him for his free, live-streamed talks on Sunday mornings at 9:30 AM Pacific, and on Wednesday nights at 7:00 PM Pacific.

You will be able to see and hear Guy online and share in a live Q&A session following each talk. You can pre-register for the free livestream at guyfinley.org/webinar.

You will be sent a reminder email with the link right before each talk. And if you can’t make the live talks, you will receive a link so that you can watch the replays at a later time.

I hope to see you online!

Best wishes,

Dr. Ellen Dickstein
The OneJourney Project

P.S. Submit a quote to our Living Book! Does your tradition also speak about the importance of looking within to make real changes in the way you interact with life? If so, please share a quotation about it with the OneJourney community. When we see the same truth expressed, again and again, it strengthens our resolve to pursue it for ourselves. So, please click this link to submit your quotation to the OneJourney Living Book.