The discovery of the self
In this article, we explore the importance of discovering yourself and connecting with who you are on the inside.
Discovering and rediscovering yourself!
Have you found you? You're probably thinking "what the heck!" Let's think about discovering yourself for a second. What is the self? Well, Wikepedia says:
The self is a key construct in several schools of psychology, referring to either the cognitive and affective representation of one's identity or the subject of experience But what the heck does that mean? Good question. Here is my definition of the self:
A non physical, internal energy (Soul, your consciousness) that beyond the firing of neurons in your nervous system, and the human body operation, exists on it's own, is observing and guiding (whether we choose to listen or not) and is always there. Have you ever went to reach for the piece of cake and then something in your head went, "dont?" What about when you're really feeling emotional about something, you're up to your eyelids in TEARS and you really fully are engaged in this experience, don't you sometimes feel a bit "out of yourself?" What about the times in your day, where you stop thinking about the complexities of life and start just existing, does that feel normal to you, like an everyday occurance? Or is there something else out there? (or should we say, in there)
Not to be confused with the self image, the way in which you see yourself, and think about yourself, the actual self in my opinion is the most powerful part of you that exists. It's the part that offers guidance when you need it. It's the part that always knows what to do, it's the part you connect with if you meditate, or clear your mind in your day and it's the actual you, beyond what society or your world has shaped you into. I think the self knows all of the answers, but God did something very interesting and gave us conscious choice. We have the choice not to listen to ourselves in many cases, so, in many cases, we don't. Make sense? I hope so! Let's talk about connecting with yourself. Many people, through the complexity of life and living in a world where there is no shortage of sensory data (stuff is getting thrown at you every second of your existence), get disconnected from the "self" or themselves. It is my belief that when you don't take enough time to connect with who you really are, you start to distance yourself from that. It has been my experience, and many others too, that connecting to your true self again brings almost instant and definitely profound change in your life. I have seen this with my own experience. You can have the best tools, the most effective strategies, the best philisophies on life, success, and happiness but if you're not connecting to who you are inside every now and then, you tend to just kind of go with the flow of life, never really using the strategies that you know. It's been my experience that when I truly connect with myself (through just clearing my mind and existing for about 40 minutes) I start to really get into my own brain, a lot more than in conscious operation and what I've found is that I end up with one word, clarity. It's like you're back in touch with something, and your life is clear again and the motives for your actions, the internal driving force is refreshed again! I do this at least 5 times a week, and you should too! Check into finding a good daily or weekly meditation exercise, a time where you can actually clear out your head and exist. It's one of the best experiences known to man and can help you to both connect to yourself at a very deep and almost God like level.
I believe that happiness is our natural state. We are naturally in that position and it is the complexity of our individual exterior lives (objective experience) and what happens on the outside that distorts that. Discovering yourself is like going back to that natural position of happiness. That part of me, is what compels me to write, to excel, to contribute, to create and to interact. That's just one persons opinion, what's yours? Comment Below!