“Don’t stop here,” my Soul said to me. “But I’m tired” I complained.  “Yes, but don’t stop here.”

“I’m afraid.”  “Yes, but don’t stop here.”

“I’m in pain.” “Yes, but don’t stop here.”

And so I soldiered on. Even though I couldn’t see the road ahead, I had to believe it was there. There were times when the darkness threatened to close in, shrouding me in doubt and panic, fear even. It was at such low times that I reminded myself of the last freedom I had. No matter what befell me, no matter what people thought of me, mine was the final freedom – I could choose my own attitude. And so my mind wandered, looking for a wider perspective. For mine seemed so narrow, concerned with little beyond my own misery.

In this dark time I was guided to pick up Fankl’s book, Man’s Search for Meaning, windows opened and the fresh air rushed in. As a survivor of the Holocaust, humanity and personal meaning was elusive, but for him, never lost. Thanks to him, I began to see that my life did have meaning, and it was I, and I alone that decided what that meaning was. Could this be true? Was that it? That simple? Ah yes – said Marcus Aurelius a wise voice from 2000 years ago. I picked up his book – Meditations, and, thanks to him, I will not to allow my thoughts to be swamped by trivia and pettiness. It is for me, and me alone, to appreciate the brief life I have within the vast context of time and space.

Ah yes, “go even deeper” my Soul invited. There I found the Soul’s Code by Hillman, there I discovered the truth about my calling. All of us hold an image in our hearts of the person we can become, and the life we can live. I dared ask the question – “who am I?” The wisdom of Soul answered softly, yet with power – “you are YOU.” And so I was bid to take care of my own Soul. This I found in Thomas Moore’s book. With thanks then I would fill my empty void with Soulful living. I am an individual, for all my idiosyncratic bluster and my darkness, I am ME.

This is where my inward journey approached its destination, its temporary resting place. I picked up my last book. I have covered so much ground in this healing process and I find my mind, my Soul changed. It was Ayn Rand’s Atlas Shrugged that left me with the final transformative thoughts. I now know that I am the forger of my own destiny. By my own efforts I create something in my life that is valued. In me I enable a higher form of humankind to evolve by daring to think. My ankle, my body is healing slowly but with the reading I followed, in this process, so is my mind, my heart and my spirit.