Osho wrote this on Buddhahood but I think that it has something to say to our community and that is why I am posting it here.
" If you don't accept yourself, you keep chasing shadows, mirages,
faraway mirages. And they look beautiful when you are very
far away from them. The closer you come, the more you find that
there is nothing, only sand; it was a mirage. Then you create another mirage.
This is how people waste their whole lives.
Just accept yourself as you are. Nothing has to be condemned,
nothing has to be judged. There is no way to judge, no way to compare,
because each person is unique. There has never been a person like you, and their never will be again, so you are alone;
comparison is not possible. And this is the way that existence wants you to be, that is why you are this way. Don't fight with
existence, and don't try and improve on yourself; otherwise you will create a mess. That is how people have created a mess out of their lives.
So this is my message to you: accept yourself. It will be hard, very hard, because the idealistic mind is always watching and
saying, 'what are you doing? This is not the right thing to do! You have to become great, you have to become a Buddha or a Christ[or a woman/man]
what are you doing? This does not look like a Buddha[or a woman/man], you are behaving like a fool. Are you mad?'
Accept yourself. In that acceptance is Buddhahood"[and Womanhood & Manhood]
