As mothers in a modern Information Age, we are inundated with information from every direction. Yet, very little of this "information" is truly valuable to us and our families. As mission driven moms, our job becomes to filter through this information and find the most essential principles that will build a strong family and home. And, of course, Freud was right when he said the most important knowledge we need is knowledge of ourselves: “To be completely honest with oneself is the very best effort a human being can make.”  ~Sigmund Freud This is so critical because it's only when we see the truth about ourselves, our lives and our families that we can begin to take steps that will create permanent change. But this is precisely the truth we most often run away from -- it means we must admit that we've been in the wrong and face the pain of our own shortcomings. 

In this podcast, though, Abraham Maslow - creator of Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs - assures us that although we fear knowing -- knowing the truth about ourselves, our families and the world -- although it requires work and effort and although it means we have to change in accordance with the truth we find, we have a dire NEED to know!   “If you’re going to reach your potential, if you’re going to be a mission driven mom, you must know.  You must know all about yourself, you must know about your children, you must know the principles, you must know how to live them, you must know what God is asking you to do.  And you have to let go of that FEAR…and submit to that NEED to know.” ~Audrey Rindlisbacher

Listener's Guide: Use the time stamps below to skip to any part of the podcast. 

0:57  Introduction to Maslow 5:31  The power of knowing oneself 9:03  Fear of weakness 11:46  Fear of greatness 18:45  Knowledge for decreasing anxiety 24:00  Avoidance of knowledge as avoidance of responsibility 26:29  Knowledge is essential

Quotes from this episode: “Freud's greatest discovery is that the great cause of much psychological illness is the fear of knowledge of oneself.” ~Abraham Maslow  

“To be completely honest with oneself is the very best effort a human being can make.” ~Sigmund Freud

“We have discovered that fear of knowledge of oneself is very often isomorphic with, and parallel with, fear of the outside world.  That is, inner problems and outer problems tend to be deeply similar and to be related to each other.” ~Abraham Maslow FEAR OF WEAKNESS “In general this kind of fear is defensive, in the sense that it is a protection of our self-esteem, of our love and respect for ourselves.  We tend to be afraid of any knowledge that could cause us to despise ourselves or to make us feel inferior, weak, worthless, evil, shameful.” ~Abraham Maslow  FEAR OF GREATNESS “But there is another kind of truth we tend to evade.  Not only do we hang on to our psychopathology, but also we tend to evade personal growth because this too, can bring another kind of fear, of awe, of feelings of weakness and inadequacy. And so we find another kind of resistance, a denying of our best side, of our talents, of our finest impulses, of our highest potentialities, of our creativeness.  In brief this is the struggle against our own greatness.” ~Abraham Maslow

“[Women who are] truly searching for an accurate picture of themselves, paving the way for increased influence over themselves and in their homes and communities.  We cannot grow to the extent that we don’t have knowledge.  One of the most important pieces of knowledge we really need is the truth about ourselves.  When we see ourselves…truthfully, then we can get to work.  When we understand what we need to do, what that work is, we can take tremendous strides in a short period of time.” ~Audrey Rindlisbacher  

“It is precisely the god-like in ourselves that we are ambivalent about, fascinated by, and fear of, motivated to and defensive against…Every one of our great creators, our god-like people,