Where do I find my real freedom?

Once we have learned to do our soul work, once we have found our “inner thread,” a person does not need to impress others. Such people live their lives from the inside out and not from the outside in.
Human admiration and praise is fine and human criticism hurts, but eventually you know it does not mean very much.

Being a public person over so many years now, I have learned that many people love me because they are simply loving people and many people who hate me, hate me for their own wrong reasons. In both cases, it has little to do with me. I had best not take either of them too seriously. What freedom that is!

Then you can stand naked before the naked God without shame, knowing you will always be received as you are. The point is not the perfection of the gift but the giving of the gift! “I am who I am, who I am!” the soul shouts. That is all you are and it is apparently more than enough for God. All we can give back to God is who we really are, which is, without doubt, the most courageous act you will ever perform.

Richard Rohr