What we must always remember is that the only work we do of lasting value is the work that we do for ourselves within ourselves. We have a definite conditioned dependency to think of things as worthwhile only if someone else recognizes their value. This painful kind of thinking not only leaves us tied to trying to please others, but it also discourages us from embarking upon the exciting journey of self-investigation.
In our appearance-oriented thinking, we wrongly believe that unless someone else can see our inner efforts or in some way approve our self-discoveries, our work has been in vain. Nothing could be further from the truth. Inner work rewards the Inner You. This is your true and Higher Nature. Ever-present but as yet unrealized, your Higher Nature is pleasing to itself and so needs nothing outside of its own elevated state in order to feel successful. This exalted inner condition, which is the source of true self-liberation, already lives within you. It is not something that you need to add to yourself, since it has always belonged to you. This special knowledge teaches us that this Great Prize is a realization and not an acquisition.
"So if you can't give yourself this Inner Victory, how do you win?"
"You must learn to stop thinking in terms of beginnings and endings, successes and failures; and begin to treat everything in your life as a learning experience instead of a proving one."
"How will this help me to realize my true Successful Self?"
"When approaching life in this new way, you will no longer waste your precious energies endlessly battling to prove yourself to yourself and others. Now your energies can be put to much higher use, which will initially enable you to clearly see how you have been stubbornly clinging to self-defeating ideas and beliefs."
"That doesn't sound like something I'm going to be interested in seeing!"
"The highest peaks of great mountains almost always have banks of dark clouds resting just beneath them. You must climb through these clouds in order to conquer the heights. Then the higher view belongs to you."
"I'm afraid I won't be strong enough."
"You don't need to be strong, only willing to see. If you will do your part, which is to reveal you to yourself, your Higher Nature will provide you with all the strength you need. It is this new strength that allows you to let go of the self-limiting and fear-producing thoughts and feelings which have been darkening your life and holding you down. Having dropped the unnatural heaviness from your spirit, you now naturally begin to rise. The higher you go, the easier flows your New Life. Now the only direction you want to go in life is up!"