Finding yourself is not a singular, static activity – it’s more of a journey. When you realize that you really are more than the sum of your ‘parts’, that this is an ongoing activity, once started, will never end. There are two other conditions that must be accepted; one is that you have to be willing to be totally honest with yourself – much easier to say then to do. The other condition is that there are no areas, subjects that are closed to exploration and discovery. However, if you are willing to engage in this activity you may not always like what you find, but you will never be bored.
So what’s involved in the process of finding yourself? I do not consider myself an expert except as it relates to myself. What I’ve discovered, in terms of process, is to not predetermine what is discovered or when or how but to be open to discover every day – actually to make it a point to discover every day. The more you do this the more you will see the relationships between the various ‘parts’ of you. My point is to never predetermine what the relationships will be and to be open to contradictions.
There will be times that you will think that you are nothing more than a mass of contradictions – and, to a degree, I suspect you are – we all are. It’s interesting to see how these apparent contradictions coexist and complement each other. Simply stated, we are an oxymoron! And the quicker we make a kind of neutral ‘peace’ with these dispirit parts the more we can integrate everything. I believe (hope) that the more we do allow apparent contradictions to coexist in ourselves the more we can be open to accepting this in other people.
The upside to all this discovery is the ability to choose and to change. Change has to be determined on the basis of knowing, at least cogent, logical change. If we define change as improve, grow, mature then this is not done in a vacuum or in isolation. Fact is that you change daily in some fashion – if, when you engage in this journey of finding yourself you do this on a conscious level and can make quicker use of what you discover. It’s the difference between seeing and walking in the world… blind.
…but, what do you think? what do you believe?
