How well do we really know ourselves? As Shakespeare said “To thine own self be true…”; but we can only be true to ourselves and others if we firstly know ourselves – warts and all.
To do this takes time, patience, introspection and commitment. Clues can be gathered from listening to ourselves and to others. Perhaps someone may have a reaction to something you say, you may react to someone’s behaviour or you receive some feedback. All of this can help build a healthy picture of ourselves.
So how is it helpful to know ourselves? What are the benefits to knowing ourselves better? We can know our physical limits, how far we can push ourselves when exercising, know when we are tired, know how to feed ourselves well so that we are giving our body sustaining food and drink.
We will know our values, the type of community we want to live in and what sort of work environment we enjoy. If we know ourselves we will know what type of friendships are important to us, be able to create boundaries of how we like to be treated. We will gradually get to know our interests and passions which most importantly give us purpose to live and breathe! How awful if we didn’t know what excites us? We might even get to know our purpose for being here – the legacy we hope to leave behind. This doesn’t need to be a big one by the way. Just being a kind and helpful human being is enough. If we know our strengths and traits we can use them well, accept them and contribute through them.
By knowing what stresses us we can manage stressful situations and gain skills to better manage stress levels. I think the most important in all of these is having meaning and purpose in our lives. What do you really enjoy doing? What really fulfills you? Is it listening to music? Is it designing a house? Is it driving a car? Do whatever it takes in any area of your life to ensure you ENJOY your life.