Know thyself

Importance of consciously knowing what I believe is critical for change. Unconsciously knowing ourselves is common from observing our likes, dislikes, strengths, weaknesses is a great first step, but then knowing why, and knowing our beliefs well enough to articulate them and the causes is a further step.

Know that we are responsible for our beliefs, our judgements, our motivations is the next big step. It is the act of sorting, form first principals our actual beliefs from those we were told to believe, and owning our own beliefs that is so freeing. It all starts from knowing that we were dropped on this world, as many generations before us, without any knowledge, and have learned what we have learned, much of it socially without classes. Some of what the ancestors taught was wrong, some was right. What is right to do is more likely to be right than the reason, where they were just following the previous generations. Some care about being right, some do not. Some care about fitting in, others do not. So what. Most care about money and little else.  Life will go on until it does not. It does not matter.

The whole world is devoid of meaning until we assign a meaning, employ positive emotion, attachment, engagement, to something. It is our society, our values that provides meaning, whatever that might be. We need to have a clear understanding of what we want to do with our lives, and then go do it, and if fate permits, achievement. What happens if we do not have a clear understanding? We drift along until something happens, we follow that path until we get knocked off, and since we have no target, no play, we carry on until we reach an age that we just give up trying. OK, so what. Fate did not permit. Will anyone care enough to do anything? Not likely. We are just opportunistic animal life living on a big rock. We may have the power of reason, but so what.

Now there are some who know from early childhood what the want to be, good for them. There are some who do not know, but are told what they should be, and out of obedience go that way with the enthusiasm of a slave. Some want to get away from the negatives of their life, and that becomes the first driving force. When we escape, then what? We should adopt a long range plan, but then along comes the computer, and the life we prepared for was largely replaced by the computer, except for those interface issues. The work changes to just the hassle parts, not the long hours of calculations some of us enjoyed. Oh well, life goes on until it does not.

We can mentally back up to the stoic view from above, to where we become insignificant, or further, to where we see the emptiness and futility of our lives, but then we can once again assign meaning, positive emotion, engagement, and if fate permits, achievement, satisfaction and joy. We then come back to earth, take up our chosen tasks, and become engaged in life.

It is these holidays from life's vicissitudes that we all need to re-target our life and get on with life.

But what do I know?