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How Can You Know Yourself?
Most
every self-help courses start with the idea that you must know
yourself before you can know what you are going to do and how you
will act with others. Even he Bible tells us to "Know thyself."
before you can know God. Even though most people would claim they
know who they are, in reality they don't. People may have a general
idea of what they like or want or may even have some sort of
direction; but they don't pursue what really makes them function as
they do. Why do you react the way you do? What makes you get angry or
happy? Most people can't begin to answer these questions about
themselves.
This
is why some people require long term therapy with an analyst to help
solve their problems. Psychiatrist can detect the complexities of
people much better than the individuals themselves. They realize the
layers of entrenched beliefs within the human mind must be approached
with caution and restraint.
Common
people do not evaluate the physiological side of someone else,
because they could not detect abnormal traits without proper
training. Even if they tried it would still take a trained
professional to make a valid evaluation. Any evaluation of a person
would differ from person to person. Certainly your evaluation of
yourself would be strikingly different than any persons' evaluation
of you. You would tend to be harder in your assessment of yourself
than someone else. Why? Because you know what your expatiations are
and if you are living up to them.
Only
you would know what you believe in and how you would react to
different stimuli. Another person's evaluation would be based on
their own value system and their perception of how it should be
structured. We see ourselves and the world from the inside out,
others see us from the outside in. They see a projection of us, like
an actor in a play. Remember the saying, "the world is a stage
and we are only actors," well it's true. You project what you
believe to be appropriate for the particular situation. That is why
it is called "action" because you become engaged as the
actor in the act. Because your actions are determined by your
associations and experiences. How past encounters are interpreted
will establish precedence for how it effects you in the future. No
two individuals will make the same judgments and have the same
reactions to a given situation. Just like everyone looks different
and sounds different they also see the world from a slightly
different angle, color and emotion. For a person to know him/herself
is to have self assurance, but then, everyone harbors some fears and
doubts that they don't know about.
You
can set down and self-evaluate yourself, but your examination would
be bias and would never be true in the eyes of someone else. Their
examination of you would always be tainted by their own self serving
eccentrics. You can only make a determination of how you are going to
accept or reject any particular person or thing, but not why you made
the assessment. True assessments come from a mixture of previous
determinations. These are accounted as values and morals which are
driven by your individual, social, financial, physical, interaction,
and religious considerations. These differences are what makes you an
individual. The fact is, you can know what you want but never totally
why you want it. The most valuable contribution you can make to
yourself is in the quality of your relationships with others. Be
truthful, faithful, and diligent in all that you do. Honesty, and
forthrightness, comes as a result of your doing the right thing. So,
don't worry who you are but rather concentrate on how you are.
Developing
a positive attitude.
No
one is guaranteed to live life in a rose garden. You are bombarded
daily with stressful and negative events that there is no getting
around. At times life really stinks but you still have to face the
relationships, jobs, financial matters, physical fitness, religion
which all pose questions and all present challenges. Each phase of
life will present complexities unique to that particular period in
your life. How is your inner self contending with all the
complexities you face on a daily bases? You will never be completely
free from challenges but by knowing yourself you can face adversities
with confidence. Each life event can be met with the assurance that
you can and will triumph. It is important that in the face of
adversity that you are collected and maintain a positive attitude.
Anything can be overcome by a person who knows what his/her limits
are and with the right attitude. It is attitude, without a doubt,
that is the one most important things you possess, and guess what,
you are in control of it. It's up to you how you greet the world and
everyone in it. Positive is met with positive, and your positive
attitude will reflect a winning personality. Let’s face it, success
and failure are the same, only on opposite sides of the rule. It’s
the law of cause and effect. If effects are to be changed, the cause
must be altered. It’s the law, nothing personal, it’s the same
for everyone.
