KNOWING YOURSELF

KNOWING YOURSELF

It is very rare to find a person who knows himself completely, who can tell you exactly why he feels a certain thing, what his goals are, what his priorities are i.e. his hierarchy of values, what he likes and why, what he dislikes and why.

 It is rare to find a person who has cleared his mind – so to speak, and is a kind of blank inside, free, unfettered, joyous, energetic and serene.

 Most people are not like this. Most people in varying degrees do not know themselves. They have kind of gap between what they THINK and what they FEEL.

 They act alternatively – sometimes by what they think and sometimes by what they feel. When they thus act, they act with an expectation and their expectation might not come true. They feel something again, and then they think about these feelings, going through a process of various things- denial, suppression, repression, rationalizations, defenses, covering up and so on.

Most people do not know themselves because they do not ask fundamental questions about their life and existence. Without asking fundamental questions and being curious about the world at large, a person has no way by which he can integrate his experiences, thoughts, feelings, actions.

It is a perspective on the whole world that his soul needs to process the data in the subconscious so that, then, his subconscious comes out and unites as a unit with his conscious mind.

This is the meaning of knowing oneself. It is to know consciously what one holds—one’s core, fundamental beliefs that shoot out and spur thoughts, feelings, desires into the conscious mind.

 What is life? What do I basically want? What is this world? What should I do? What is right and wrong and what must be my ‘right’ and why?

  You understand? If you do not raise these questions and answer them you would be a lost soul, in a dark unknown and you would be a mystery to yourself, the world, people, events would be a mystery to you.

On the other hand, if you realize how the world works, what life and man is, deeply, you would at once clear your whole content within, correct  some of your beliefs, confirm others and overall form a strong sense of identify i.e. self.

You would become very active, happy, energetic and calm.

So start from your own context, whatever you are and know yourself i.e. your deepest reasons for why you feel as you do, act as you do, even get the thoughts that you do.

             It is a natural process. Unfortunately people at large, around you , would give you ready made, superficial , social values to you, would try to program you, condition you and try to turn out a pseudo self in the place of a real, strong identity and individuality.

            Do not give into belief systems you cannot understand. It is a process of asking questions, getting answers and satisfying your intellectual curiosity. Be ambitious, wanting a great life and observe with a critical, questioning mind and then you will begin to make sense of this world and yourself. You would build a bedrock of a character that would serve you for this exciting, adventurous, exploratory journey called life.

Plato put it well: “ A life unexamined is not worth living.”