Choosing to not be conformed is to risk the loss of everything that is familiar. There’s a fear of taking responsibility for one’s behavior, because the minute you ask “Who Am I,” you’re taking responsibility for that answer. And when you face the reality that you’ve created who you are, you may have to leave everything behind. And whenever you ask “Who I am,” you simultaneously ask “Who I can be,” and now you’re beginning to propel down the road to change.
Buddha asked “Who am I?” And he left everything behind: the palace and the royal life. He then searched for years and finally found the middle path.
Jesus asked “Who am I?” And he had an experience that said “I am the son of God.” What did he mean by that? Where will that lead to? Did he understand a resurrection at the end of crucifixion?
Mohammad questions the idols in the Ka’aba, and the Arabian merchants want to murder him. Is he going to become the prophet or is he going to become a martyr? Does he know the answer? When he goes to Medina, does he know that he will conquer Mecca?
You will face challenges because you’ll be in new places. You cannot know what the challenges will be because you alone have found the new place, and most of the challenges will be inside yourself. The greatest challenge will be changing sufficiently in the discovery of yourself to accommodate the difference of who you will become. We are equally afraid of both the loss of ourselves and the gaining of ourselves.