It is, in essence, the arc of acquiring greater psychological flexibility: facing difficult emotions and thoughts with greater openness; letting go of limiting self-stories; finding resources within that allow us to see ourselves and our situation in a new way; connecting with a deeper and more authentic sense of self; connecting with a chosen purpose and discovering the actions that help us to fulfil it; and finally committing to those actions with perseverance.*
Steven Hayes

Stories that follow the hero’s journey blueprint, for example, can teach us about the important threshold moments that we all have to master.**
Anna Katharina Schaffner

We’ve all been there.

Blaming circumstances and systems and individuals for the problems we face.

In the end, unless we can magically line all of those things up in such a way as to convince them they need to change, our best efforts may well be spent beginning our journey within.

We still have to convince ourselves, and that’s hard, and it’s far from easy and simple, but, as all those who have made their own hero’s journey encourage us, it’s not impossible.

*From Steven Hayes’ A Liberated Mind;
**From Anna Katharina’s Schaffner’s The Art of Self-Improvement.