Do you think you know everything there is to know about yourself? If you do, you are one of those rare people who have got it together and kudos to you!
For the rest of us, though, often times we feel like we have no idea who we are. We might say or do things that we didn’t mean to say or do, and eventually even hurt those around us. It can be quite frustrating when we lack the proper understanding of ourselves. Each day is filled with meaningless rituals of waking up, brushing our teeth, eating breakfast (again, rare), and going to school or work. After a long and boring day, we jump in the bed, and the cycle repeats. Don’t you ever want to just scream? Don’t you ever want to just break out in some tragic song or dance to music that comes out of thin air? Like in old movies, the people would break out singing and dancing in their most troubled of moments. Perhaps if we made expressing ourselves like that a reality, it would help blow off some steam, instead of holding it all inside continuously.
So what are some these things that we don’t know about ourselves? Well, as I mentioned earlier, there may be a lot of things that we don’t know. In general, though, there are few things that stand out.
We Live in Denial
This may sound silly because most people would never agree with this…but wait, isn’t that denial? The truth of the matter is that most people are not where they want to be in their lives at any given point in their lives. Why does this happen? Well, remember when you were in high school and the teachers and administration told you that you had one hour to write a five paragraph essay on all the short term and long term goals you had for the rest of your life? That’s when it happened. In society today, people are expected to know what they want to do for their rest of their lives, before they’re even ready to decide what they want to do tomorrow! Pushed into a lifetime that we weren’t ready for, we live in denial, hoping that one day happiness will reach at our door steps. My advice is, go back to that moment in time where you feel like your life’s decision began floating out of your hand, and grab it. Don’t let it float away. Your life is yours. YOU decide.
We Live in the Future
It’s 2014 the last time I checked…but if you look around, most people are not living in 2014. Most people are living in an imaginary world that exists five years from now, or even ten or twenty years from now. Everything has become about the future. “I’ll go to university so that I can get a good job.” Then, “I’ll get this job so that I can make more money.” Then, “I’m working everyday to make more money so that one day I can buy that mansion.” If you haven’t noticed, there is a repetitive cycle of constantly doing something to achieve something else. But what about what is happening at the moment? Doesn’t it matter that you are spending ten years of your life doing something that you aren’t even happy with, to get to something else that you won’t be happy with, unless you get to something else doing it? It’s a cycle of unhappiness and always hoping for something better to come. What we need to realize is that every living, breathing moment that we have is a part of our lives. It’s a gift. That’s why it’s called the present.
We Live in Loneliness
We live in the era of technology. People are continuously on various social networks such as Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Instagram, and more. You name it, we’ve got it. You can lay in the comfort of your bed, on your favorite site, talking to all your favorite people. You can reach someone you want in a second, and it’s all at your fingertips. Your significant other texts you throughout the entire day and that usually means that they care a lot about you. Your best friend is second in line and you both never lose communication. But wait, when was the last time your significant other called you and remarked about how sweet your voice is? When was the last time you actually spent time with your bestie? Suddenly you realize that the entire time you think you’ve been in company of others, you’ve actually been alone. Technology is a blessing, but put it down sometimes. Go outside, smell the fresh air, and don’t live alone when you don’t have to.
We Ignore Human Nature
This one is last because it’s the most important. Many people believe that men or women, boys or girls, should all be a certain way. It’s not good for boys to cry and girls should always wear pink. Even though we may not think about these things on a daily basis, they are subconsciously encrypted into our minds from a very young age. Without realizing it, we transfer these views and beliefs onto our young ones and it creates a never ending cycle of inhumanity, and ultimately unhappiness. Human nature is just what it is — nature. People are allowed to feel and act in different ways. Societal norms can be pressuring but we need to break passed that and realize that it’s okay to be human. It’s okay to be yourself. You will never be perfect to anyone but that doesn’t matter. What matters is that you are good enough for yourself.
I want to end with this. Self discovery is very important. Be it good or bad, it is always imperative for a person to acknowledge their surroundings and what happens to them. Acknowledgment is the first step to progressing in anything — in this case, life.