Your vision will become clear only when you can look into your own heart. Who looks outside, dreams; who looks inside, awakes. – Carl Jung
Looking without or looking within?
What does that mean?
When we look inside our heart, our true self awakens. Until then, our true self is hidden, and we follow with our groups. Our family, our friends, our community and our nation end up being our compass. When we live without looking within our heart, we exist as if we are in a dream, someone else’s dream. To awaken, we must look inside our heart.
When we look inside, into our own heart, our vision can begin to become clear. When we look inside our heart, we discover what we are, who we are, and what we truly believe. This process of examination, of self-exploration, is the foundation of our true self.
Why is vision important?
Vision means many things. In the quote, I believe vision means how we perceive the world. When we ignore our heart, we see through a fog of dreams and ideas that may not represent our best true self. They are most likely fogs generated by society and group values based on our associations.
Once we have looked inside our heart and know what we believe, personally and without reservation, only then can we consider ourselves to be truly awake and engaged in life. That is when our vision becomes clear, and we can follow our own path, not the path our parents, friends or society would have us follow.
That is what vision means, why it is important, and how it can change your destiny.
Where can I apply this in my life?
What did you want to be when you grew up? What did your parents or friends want you to be? Did you choose your classes to be with other kids in your group, or did you follow your heart? Did you choose it to annoy your parents?
Did you ever date someone for any reason other than because you truly and deeply cared for them? Did you ever date someone to annoy someone else, or because they were there and interested?
Would you say that there were clear distinctions in the above paragraphs between following the path of your heart and seeing clearly, and wandering around in a dream? While love interests and career choices are big choices, they are far from the only ones that people make.
The things I do for a career fascinate me, but they are not the true calling of my heart. I’ve been looking into it, and believe teaching of some sort is in my future. I just haven’t figured out what or how as yet. As for love, I have an ex-wife and a wife, so I have traveled that path as well.
Grab some paper and think for a few moments about this: What would you do if you could do it all over again? Select any “it” you wish, love, career, first car, first pet, what ever you think you might have done that wasn’t truly part of your true self.
For each item you put on the list, consider what you really did, and why you chose the way you did. Compare that to what you think is your heart’s calling. Take a moment (after you write those things down) and look inside your heart.
When I do this, I close my eyes and imagine I am getting smaller. Eventually, I’m small enough to sink into my own body and descend into my rib-cage. I then look at my cartoon-style heart and ask it questions, and answers appear in my mind’s eye. Sounds corny, but it works for me. You’ll have to be honest with yourself and ask the tough questions, or the exercise will not yield all it could.
Were you surprised by any of the answers you got from your introspection? Have any of the mists of the dream lifted? Do you see more clearly now? I hope so. Do you have any updates to the list you started? Do you want to select another aspect of your life to investigate? Have at it, and have some fun exploring and discovering your true self.
From: Twitter, @tonyrobbins
confirmed at : http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/quotes/c/carljung146686.html
Photo by Rennett Stowe
Vision means seeing things people don’t see. Steve Jobs was a visioner. If you see thing (your heart) you don’t see, you have a vision.
Thank you for stopping by, and for your kind words.
What can I say, I actually read this a little over a year ago and it was the perfect time to read it because not only was I studying Jung at the time but had gone through some major lie changes myself and wished I had this article to help me through then! I love everything about it…..so much so I saved it and now that I’ve decided to start blogging I’ve come back so I can post the link on my page. Thank you for writing such a wonderfully inspiring piece!
Thanks for stopping by (again), and for your kind words.
An unquoted source leaves room for legitimate doubt
I’ve been searching for the source of this for some time, also due to wanting to use it as a referenced quote, and have no joy in finding it. It’s possible Jung wrote this- but no one can confirm it, in which case equally possible that he didn’t write it, therefore claiming legitimacy from Jung for the quote is wrong. I’d like to use it, and it appears consistent with Jung’s writings, but…
Thanks for stopping by and for taking the time to leave your comment.
Please note that I am not an official source of anything, and that this blog is a place for my thoughts on quotes which are popular on Twitter. If you are trying to use me as a source for a paper, while I am flattered, I am not an appropriate source for that activity.
That said, while it isn’t presently sourced, there are many things said by famous people which are not easily searched, even with the best search engines. It may also be that the quote is a victim of transliteration or a difference in translation. Many of the quotes from the Ancient Greeks are found in some translations of their works, but completely absent in others. Unless Jung wrote his works in English, that is. I was thinking he wrote them in German, but I might be mistaken. Never really thought about it…
For me, the point remains this: Is the quote interesting, and how can I apply it to my life in the modern world?
What is the source of this quote? Seems like every single person who posts this quote has the bad habit of not citing their sources.
Wikiquote uses it, but does not source it (http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Carl_Jung) as the caption for the picture in upper right corner. That said, it is still listed as unsourced. As I understand it, his language of choice was German, so this may well be an alternate or creative (inspired, perhaps) translation of a passage in his writings. As you have noted, many quotes are quite difficult to accurately and authoritatively source. If you ever do find it, please do me the kindness of letting me know, so that I might also accurately source it. Thanks.
I believe the source is not so interesting. Maybe once the words were chosen by another. But when you truly understand it, and with understanding i mean experience, these words (experience) can be yours and you can use it like it is yours (experience). I personally always speak about the person who inspired me. But we can ask ourselves what is the source? “The source” here was in a way probably also inspired by another person or by some event.
Thanks for stopping by and for taking the time to leave a comment. I believe that I agree completely with what you say.
They say success has many parents. True and useful wisdom is much the same. When you find similar quotes from many civilizations across centuries of time, there is probably a basic truth contained therein. And the famous speakers who are often quoted, they probably heard something like their quote, and were inspired to record theirs. The lucky few became famous, the rest were simply wise.
The ultimate goal, in my mind, of wise sayings is to pass that wisdom on to others. The sayings become real when a person can relate it to their own experiences.
The source is important when you’re using the quote for a college assignment. Lol
Yeah, well you can’t expect me to do ALL the work for the students, right? 8)
thank you 🙂
You’re welcome. Thanks for stopping by and for taking the time to leave a comment. Glad you liked it.
Great article..Thank you..
You’re welcome. Glad it was of use to you.