Skip to main content

Know thyself

In Socrates' words "The unexamined life is not worth living".

It might not ring a bell the first time you read those words. Once you do though, it opens a world of contemplation. It's so astounding how meaningful that simple phrase is. It holds so much power and knowledge.

The thing is we don't really learn to learn about ourselves. We learn to read, write, doing maths, using the PC and what not. There is however, no subject or course about learning more about yourself. It is not in the curriculum. We don't see the value in knowing what matters to us.

I realise this is why I had a hard time knowing my values, or rather acknowledging them. Our values are at the core of who we are. We lose them in the process of following social and cultural norms. We buy into labels, roles and views. We don't know better. This is simply because we lost connection with ourselves, our soul, our intuition in the process of growing up.

It's no wonder many of us end up being unhappy- doing work of no value to us. We need to align ourselves with our authentic self and follow our true calling. This is the only way to live a meaningful life.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Developing Daily Habits

I was made aware of this concept whilst I was reading the book 'The Slight Edge' by Jeff Olson. We have the ability to choose what we want to do with our lives. The distinction between those people who are successful- not referring to financial gain- and those who are unsuccessful comes down to habits. What is it you are making every day that is bringing you forward towards achieving your dreams/ goals. What is it you are doing that is moving you away from your dreams? Successful people do what unsuccessful people don't do. They are committed to self-development, growing, doing what it takes every single day- the mundane actions. Take for example, reading 10 pages a day compounded over time leads to a great deal of pages read. You don't have to start big, but create a momentum. Daily repetitive actions over time lead to accumulation of wealth. The problem here is that not many of us are willing to do those actions every day. We are quick to sink to old habits, we a...

Living in the Present

One of the most life-changing moments in my life has been to realise that I was not living in the present. This was the decisive moment I truly understood what was stopping me from being me. I was not living, merely existing. The Power of Now by Eckhart Tolle really put perspective in my life.  The instant I realised this was a moment of pure enlightenment. Something can be written, told, but until it is experienced by you, it is difficult to understand. Accept that the past is gone and the future's out of reach. By constantly thinking about the past, our previous experiences and the future- what if, we forego what we actually own- NOW! It's so easy for us to forget to cherish the present moment, and by so doing we are left in a state of pure dissatisfaction, unhappiness. We are never truly happy because we are not appreciative of the now. Our mind is either distracted by the future or past actions, events. When you acknowledge that pain is created by not being presen...

Positive Affirmations

I have always been a great affirmer of positive reinforcements. Positive affirmations bring light in our life. Our thoughts have a tendency to be negative. How many times do you feel like you are being thrown over the edge? We are quick to succumb to doubt, anger, fear.  Deep inside, we are strong, fearless and confident human beings. However, all these positive innate qualities are buried as we grow up, due to criticism, embarrassment and judgement. Our family has expectations from us, everybody seems to know what's best for you. At a young age, it doesn't really matter. Our mind is not fully developed, so we take in everything, without really questioning its significance. Truth is we don't know the impact until much later. Indirectly, we let our inner desires fade away in the process; we don't know any better. We do what we must, based on society's beliefs of the definition of success. Unfortunately, when we don't follow our heart comes a deep sense of un...