My wife recently posed me this question: how does someone actually “search their soul” and “find themselves”? My reaction to the question was that they have to know themselves better.
Which, of course, begged the question, how does one get to know oneself better? Here’s what I think.
- Find time for yourself, no matter how uncomfortable it may be. I know a number of people who are extremely uncomfortable with silence. You may finally get to hear what you really are thinking.
- Make a list of what’s important to you in your life. By doing this, it will assist you in knowing what your patterns of behavior are. Also, it is a good idea to do this regularly so you can ask yourself how you might have changed in the last few months. I’d recommend you make this list, file it, and re-do this every 6 months or after every major accomplishment or setback.
- Make a list of what makes you angry. By doing this, you get you know more intimately what affects you in the world, and definitely helps you understand (2) even more.
- Challenge yourself to neutralize reactions, in place of responses. If you find that you have a problem controlling your emotions, then set a target to put yourself in the most aggravating position possible, then test out new reactions. You might actually surprise yourself with your versatility!
- Find out if what you think makes people happy actually makes them happy. We are always thinking from our own perspectives, that we might even think that whatever it is that we like is what other people will like. Well, think again. I just found out recently, that some people don’t really like creative ideas, and in fact find it far-fetched and insulting to their “practical” intelligence. Woah! Never knew that.
- Understand what people value about you. This will help you understand your contribution to the world, thereby making you understand your merits for being in this world.
Hope this helps at least a bit. Oh, and if you find some lost soul out there, do remember to quote them this page.
