(If you wish to read this article in its original, Hungarian version, click here)
Were you to ask anyone if they know themselves, they would most likely reply ,,yes, of course”. Unfortunately, in most cases their statement wouldn’t be true. This is only the response of the ego. It is its job to keep you from your real self, because it was built by you for that reason exactly when you were running from yourself. I know this sounds weird. But trust me, it’s worth it to read on! When anyone assumes that you don’t know yourself well enough it’s offending your ego. Of course, you know yourself on some level. But the deep self-knowledge is knowing even the parts that your ego is trying to hide from you. This is the part of you buried deep because you weren’t ready to accept it and you didn’t want the world to see it either. Interesting, isn’t it? Why do you have to dig it up again? You hid it there because you couldn’t accept it right? Until you don’t know and accept every part of yourself and your soul, you can’t truly be happy. Sorry if I came on a bit rough, but trust the process!
But let’s turn our attention back to the thing I wrote about in
the title. Self-knowledge has 3 different levels. Let me demonstrate them
through these illustrations:
In the diagrams above, the blue circles represent your
self-image and the red circles represent your real self. Self-image includes all
the things that you think of yourself. Your real self is who you really are.
I’m sure you’ve seen talent shows on TV with candidates who are full of
confidence and they just know that they’re going to win the show because of how
talented they are. Of course, when they start to sing it becomes clear to
everyone that not only are they not talented, but their hearing is terrible
too. When the jury tells them about their performances they offer some kind of
excuse, like ,,I was giving performances all night and I could barely get some
sleep” or they start counter-attacking with things like ,,These judges are
complete idiots, they don’t even know what they’re talking about”. It’s really
entertaining, watching a scene like this, right? I think a large number of
viewers are only watching these shows to have a good laugh at people like this.
Of course, I have to state it here, everyone’s ego works the same way but it’s
easier to notice it in others (this also has levels). Back to the diagram, the people
above are definitely part of group A.
There are those singer candidates who think they have some
potential and then on stage it turns out they really are talented. They can be
categorized into group B and they are the ones who think less of themselves than
how they are. Of course, there are the ones who seem to know themselves pretty
well, but the jury thinks their performance was just above the average. They
are also in group B, but the big difference is that they think more of
themselves than how they actually are.
And then there are the people who know they’re talented and they
perform really well. Rare, right? Not a coincidence. They are part of group C.
They’re the rarest type of people. They are the ones who actually know
themselves, their self-image is correct. So which group do you belong in?
When I was 26 and had just gotten through the ,,awakening”, I
thought I knew myself perfectly. So at that time I would’ve said that I
belonged in group C. But the truth is, I was in group A. The first time I did
personality tests and I got surprising results, my reactions were quite typical:
“This test is no good, how could I get this result” or ,,how could the creator
of this crappy test be so stupid” and so on… Then, as I got a deeper
understanding of myself, most of the tests turned out to have been right about
me. Now I’m not saying a test like this cannot be wrong, but the ones that were
made scientifically usually state the truth, or some version of it at least. In
the following 8-10 years my self-image started moving from A to B and slowly I
was beginning to approach C. This long period of time can mean two things for
you. One, acquiring honest self-knowledge isn’t such an easy thing after all
and two, you probably feel like giving the whole thing up. But please don’t!
Maybe it won’t take you this long. I didn’t know how to find happiness, so for
me those 8-10 years were full of side tracks and dead ends that were slowing
the whole process. But this blog is written so that you can walk this path
without distractions! So that you can reach the goal in a shorter period of
time!
By the way, group C is an overidealized goal! No one can 100% be
part of it! But a really important rule of finding happiness is that you always
have to try! Why? Because the truer your self-image is, the bigger chance you
have at happiness. If you are interested in achieving that, you can read more
about it here!
DRDE
If you are interested in the previous part of this
heading click here.
If you are interested in the next part of this heading click here.
If you are interested in reading a book which talks even further
about the topic above as well as many other life changing concepts click here. But don’t forget that the answers to Life’s great
questions can only truly be found in yourself! This book as well as this blog
can only help you find your own way there...
If you seek a better understanding of the blog’s
structure, you can find a short guide here.
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further ideas or constructive cristism, which you can share with me in a
comment below the article.
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