You will hear people today retreat into non-explanations of themselves even to themselves. Insight is missing. And, people do not seem to care they are not insightful. Many wear it as a badge of honor, proclaiming, “That’s just who I am.”
We live in an age of personal expression and authenticity seeking. People gravitate to niches of ways of showing themselves to the world. But, they dare not look inward and examine what makes them tick. Just be whoever you are, is their motto. But, is the unexamined life the best way to be? If you have no knowledge of what and how you are made from your growing up years, do you have a rich life? Is your life under your control? Can you avoid making the same repeated errors in your decisions, choice of mate, friends?
Many people are afraid to examine themselves and have self-understanding. They fear gaining some information about them will be horrible and will propel them into unmitigated despair or anger. But, in my experience working in psychiatry with people suffering emotionally, I find more depression and anger from not having self-understanding than from learning about yourself and increasing your insight.
Other people do not self-examine, proclaiming they already have all the answers, that they know all there is to know about themselves. This keeps their head in the sand. And, still others avoid self-understanding because they are proud of not learning about themselves. They feel it is a waste of their time and they are happy to be impulsive, how they are at any given moment. In any relationship they claim to like who they are and blame all relationship problems on the other person.
So, what type are you – the Fearful, the Avoider, or the Content with Yourself? Or, are you the person who wants to have self-understanding because you want a rich personal life within yourself and with all your relationships? Are you the person who wants to answer the question, who am I really, with all my prior life experiences and how I was raised? Do you want to be a deep thinker, not a shallow one? It takes guts and fortitude to self-examine. Are you such a person? Will you spend the time and look inward to do it? If so, this blog is for you.
