Ten months ago I began a journey of practicing mindfulness every day and we've reached day 326. Yesterday, I talked about opportunities that lie within the struggles that impeded our path. Today is a new day.
I digress. This book got me thinking about myself and understanding my own inner nature and where it stems from. Be it my culture, how I grew up, who I interacted with, the media (with its various images, symbolism, and perspectives) I consumed, or my genetics, I've been thinking about WHY I am the way I am for a long time and it's one of the hardest things we can do.
Looking at and examining yourself objectively is hard. People generally don't like to admit - let alone face - their faults, so differentiating between what's real and what we consider ideal/suppress (consciously or not) from our memory is tough. Our memory in general is pretty unreliable, so that's one obstacle, but overcoming our ego and seeing things for how they are takes a lot of discipline, analysis, and humility.
Practicing mindfulness is one way of getting better at seeing the world for what it is. For me, it's the art of not bullshitting and being real. Doing this has helped me see myself more objectively, and by actually looking at myself without the mask or the filter we tend to give ourselves, I am learning to see where I still have room to improve. I'm learning to be more open and honest with myself and others. I'm learning to accept myself for who/what I am without feeling bad. Most importantly, I'm learning to understand myself and in effect the world around me. I am what I am and I shouldn't have to change that. Rather, I want to do things to bring out the best in myself because I think that's best for me.
That realization means way more to me than some label given to my by some personality test (honestly, they're always pretty vague and general anyway, so they're more validation boosters than anything substantial in my opinion). Those are the "easy way" of figuring out who you are. The funny thing is, there are no real shortcuts in life when it comes to mastery or gaining anything long-lasting. Simply drinking Slim-fast won't magically keep you slim. Simply drinking protein shakes won't make you buff, either. You gotta consistently put in work at the gym if you wanna see some actual results, and fitness is a lifestyle, not some shitty one-month diet. But it's hard to keep that up so most people just want the quick-fix solution. Don't.
I think that's what is meant by "life is suffering". You gotta deal with the struggle and overcome yourself in order to come out on top. Digging deep and resolving to no longer bullshit myself has helped me see that.
Peace
"Ten years of character development affords you a lot. You get a chance to dig deeper and deeper and deeper into a person." - Jon TenneyI started reading "Jung's Psychology and its Social Meaning" by Ira Progoff the other day to get a better grasp on Carl Jung's philosophy and depth psychology, which he helped develop and pioneer. Put simply, Jung was all about balance. He studied the oriental nature of the East and the occidental nature of the West in order to form a more cohesive understanding of human nature and it's manifested in culture, religion, and day-to-day social contexts. A lot of people know him from the Myers & Briggs personality test (ever hear about INFJ, INFP, etc. personality types? That's based on Jung's work), but he goes much deeper than just personality archetypes. I'm not very far into the book but so far it's very interesting. I'll definitely be talking more about it in the future.
I digress. This book got me thinking about myself and understanding my own inner nature and where it stems from. Be it my culture, how I grew up, who I interacted with, the media (with its various images, symbolism, and perspectives) I consumed, or my genetics, I've been thinking about WHY I am the way I am for a long time and it's one of the hardest things we can do.
Looking at and examining yourself objectively is hard. People generally don't like to admit - let alone face - their faults, so differentiating between what's real and what we consider ideal/suppress (consciously or not) from our memory is tough. Our memory in general is pretty unreliable, so that's one obstacle, but overcoming our ego and seeing things for how they are takes a lot of discipline, analysis, and humility.
Practicing mindfulness is one way of getting better at seeing the world for what it is. For me, it's the art of not bullshitting and being real. Doing this has helped me see myself more objectively, and by actually looking at myself without the mask or the filter we tend to give ourselves, I am learning to see where I still have room to improve. I'm learning to be more open and honest with myself and others. I'm learning to accept myself for who/what I am without feeling bad. Most importantly, I'm learning to understand myself and in effect the world around me. I am what I am and I shouldn't have to change that. Rather, I want to do things to bring out the best in myself because I think that's best for me.
That realization means way more to me than some label given to my by some personality test (honestly, they're always pretty vague and general anyway, so they're more validation boosters than anything substantial in my opinion). Those are the "easy way" of figuring out who you are. The funny thing is, there are no real shortcuts in life when it comes to mastery or gaining anything long-lasting. Simply drinking Slim-fast won't magically keep you slim. Simply drinking protein shakes won't make you buff, either. You gotta consistently put in work at the gym if you wanna see some actual results, and fitness is a lifestyle, not some shitty one-month diet. But it's hard to keep that up so most people just want the quick-fix solution. Don't.
I think that's what is meant by "life is suffering". You gotta deal with the struggle and overcome yourself in order to come out on top. Digging deep and resolving to no longer bullshit myself has helped me see that.
Peace
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| Meditation is one way to calm the mind, dig deep, and really get to the root of the Self. I knowing the self, you can in turn know others. No psychology degree needed. |
Have you taken a deep look within yourself?
ReplyDeleteHave a great day~