Embracing the Cross of Christ. Surrendering the Self as a Way of Life

To follow Jesus requires carrying His cross. He was clear about this fact through Luke 9:23, when He assured His disciples, "If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me" (KJV).
If we do not do this, we can not affirm with certitude that we are following Christ as His disciples, and instead, we are just following ourselves, and everything that this fallen world has to offer. We could not call ourselves Christians this way, it would be untrue.
So, how do we do that?
How do we embrace our cross, to follow Jesus?
Wasn't this just a metaphor destined to make us better human beings?
With the help of many enlightened followers of Jesus that have written on this subject, the author tries to answer these questions and presents several suggestions he hopes can be useful to follow the risen Christ in all circumstances every day of our lives.