One of the points that all wise men and women agree on is this: If we want our world to improve, we should work on ourselves first. That’s where the significant gains are to be found. Focusing on the inadequacies of others, or the unfairness in the world, is often just a trap of our own making as we resist looking in the mirror.

If we are to truly evolve and grow, it’s not enough to read about concepts. We must also incorporate them into our lives. Unless they are applied, and unless their worth is verified and validated through personal experience, their influence will be minimal. To really be effective, learning also has to be experiential.

That is the paradox of the human condition. If we humbly accept that our experience of reality is constrained, we immediately loosen the chains that bind us, and we begin to expand.

Rather than torture ourselves and others about our shortcomings, we can approach life with an attitude of curious delight. And the delight part is just as important as the curious.

Awareness is not a school quiz that can be passed by reading and memorizing some facts. It’s a journey that is fueled by our intent to be open, honest, and free.

We must sense and confront our blockages and biases if we are to be open and grow.

Only when we recognize our shortcomings can we begin to remedy them. Only when we perceive our true strengths can we leverage their power. And only when we seek what we don’t know can we really start to learn.

Acknowledging our limitations prompts us to start asking questions, and from that precious moment on we move from limited to liberated.

The key is to keep asking, keep probing, keep drilling down. If you activate your natural curiosity, every answer you get may generate new questions, and then new answers, followed by more questions, and so on, in an ever-rising ladder of understanding.