Did you know that the core precursors to any transformation — and ultimately realization — are:

Giving it all to god
Embracing mortality, and
Embodying paradox?

Giving it to god:

There are layers of abstraction to this. For example: surrender. And: embrace all that is as a creation of the divine. And: actively living your life as an offering. And: the knowing that god and your heart are the same thing (embodying this awareness is what it means to be a realized being).

It is impossible to truly transform and transmute (which is when the energetic expenditure in your body/mind actually changes form) without faith in a higher power which exists beyond the physical body and intellect. Spirituality and transformation are one and the same (sorry, atheists).

Embracing mortality:

All cycles on the planet include both birth and death. We are all dying more and more every day from the moment we take our first breath. Nature illustrates this in the most basic and simple way through the unfolding of the seasons.

In order to realize, many aspects of self and identity must die. It feels like real death while you're going through it. And so you have to be cool with dying a thousand times over in order to actually evolve. Prolonged suffering of any kind in life can otherwise be interpreted as resistance to death.

Embodying paradox:

To be liberated is to innerstand that all things eventually cancel themselves out. You will never find security in knowledge because security is a construct of the thoughts and does not actually exist. For every action there is a reaction. There are profound truths which literally prove other profound truths wrong. Examples of this are literally everywhere.

Seeking out THE singular truth on any topic as a means to feel secure (or right) is futile. There is no such thing as right and wrong. Nothing is fixed. Everything is always in transition.

The more realized one becomes, the harder one is to track, pin down, and define, because they embody ALL parts (another way to say this is that they _are_ totality), and not just fragments. In fact, the more realized one is, the more likely they are to instinctively defy attempts made to track, pin down, and define them by expressing themselves in overtly paradoxical ways (which deliberately creates a sort of smoke screen that redirects the person attempting this control tactic to look inward instead, because that's actually where their attention belonged in the first place).

Why would anyone want to do any of this? Why transform? It sounds so HARD?

Because when you realize how much energy you've been using defying god, attempting to outrun mortality, and rejecting paradox, and subsequently how much energy you gain by ceasing this particular fight — which creates ample space for knowing, perceptivity, clarity, satisfaction — you would never imagine going back.

What I'm saying is that continuing to suffer is HARDER and much more complicated. To not be satisfied and at peace in your life requires significantly more work than you realize to maintain. If you wonder why you're so exhausted, this is why.

To be satisfied with your life is much simpler and effortless (although real talk the transition from suffering to satisfaction does require real effort).

Here's the trick: you cannot imagine the result before you embark. You can't understand it, either. Until you have experienced it, what I share above are just words.

Faith is literally the only thing you can hold onto (see: giving it all to god); unrelenting faith that leaping off the edge of your perceived reality will ultimately lead you home.