Exploring the depths of our inner world is the most important journey we can take. The study of myself has been the most important I have ever pursued. I have gotten to know myself through examining the early experiences in my life and reconciling the emotional fallout. An understanding of the damage done to the child I was has allowed me to let go of some long held misunderstandings about my responsibility for the abuse I endured.  The contempt I held toward myself has been replaced with knowledge and forgiveness.  Compassion for the teenager I was has replaced the shame and contempt I had felt toward myself.  Throughout the years, as my teachers have passed through my life, they have each endeavored to lift me above my shame.  Each was holding a piece of my personal puzzle, and answers to questions I had not even known to ask.

Now, as I leaf through the pages of my past, I have discovered I am holding the combined wisdom of all my teachers.  They freely gave their gifts to me and now it is my privilege to pass them on.  They had eyes to see what was real in me, ears to hear what I was really saying, and hearts to truly love the confused soul standing before them.  They were not supermen or angels, just people with understanding hearts.  This is each of us; we all have gifts to give, things we know that someone else is just now ready to hear.  We hold the missing pieces for each other.