Junkyard Dawg
Ex-Bluelighter
- Joined
- Oct 31, 2017
- Messages
- 59
I've been doing some reading and found some interesting opinions, regarding so called self-awareness.
The underlying model in this opinion is that there are three predominant layers to self-awareness.
The first layer is simple understanding of one's emotions; "I feel happy when things are like this", "this makes me sad", etc. This is the most basic level of self-awareness, according to the model.
The second layer of the onion is an ability to ask why we feel certain emotions. Sometimes these question we ask ourselves can take months, or even years to answer accurately. Why do I feel angry - is it because I failed some goal I set for myself? Why am I feeling lethargic and uninspired - is it because I am feeling hopeless at some aspect of life? If there is a root cause for these feelings, it should be our aim to get to the bottom of it and answer correspondingly.
The third layer is an even deeper level of understanding of these emotions and values. Why am I considering this to be a success or failure? How am I choosing to judge myself, and by what standard do I judge those around me? What value is it ingrained in me which is causing me to think and act like this?
It would appear that values underlie everything we are and do. Nearly everything we think and feel about a situation comes back to how valuable we perceive it to be. Quite often, especially in the world of drug-taking, decisions are made based on valuing and chasing highs, not generating true happiness.
So, then, only through an honest self-analysis throughout our life, with the ebbs and flows as they come, can we truly understand ourselves. Peeling back the layers one by one, working out who we are and where we fit. What is best, and what is right - for ourselves and those who we love.
Quite often, the pains we experience are a far better measure for who we are, as opposed to our successes - since the values we use to evaluate these successes are largely formed through our interaction with environment. And it is the pains we experience day to day which allow us to learn and grow.
I would postulate that wisdom is a far better value than monetary wealth. Otherwise we end up with a society who thinks they are all the shit, even with nothing to show for it.
The underlying model in this opinion is that there are three predominant layers to self-awareness.
The first layer is simple understanding of one's emotions; "I feel happy when things are like this", "this makes me sad", etc. This is the most basic level of self-awareness, according to the model.
The second layer of the onion is an ability to ask why we feel certain emotions. Sometimes these question we ask ourselves can take months, or even years to answer accurately. Why do I feel angry - is it because I failed some goal I set for myself? Why am I feeling lethargic and uninspired - is it because I am feeling hopeless at some aspect of life? If there is a root cause for these feelings, it should be our aim to get to the bottom of it and answer correspondingly.
The third layer is an even deeper level of understanding of these emotions and values. Why am I considering this to be a success or failure? How am I choosing to judge myself, and by what standard do I judge those around me? What value is it ingrained in me which is causing me to think and act like this?
It would appear that values underlie everything we are and do. Nearly everything we think and feel about a situation comes back to how valuable we perceive it to be. Quite often, especially in the world of drug-taking, decisions are made based on valuing and chasing highs, not generating true happiness.
So, then, only through an honest self-analysis throughout our life, with the ebbs and flows as they come, can we truly understand ourselves. Peeling back the layers one by one, working out who we are and where we fit. What is best, and what is right - for ourselves and those who we love.
Quite often, the pains we experience are a far better measure for who we are, as opposed to our successes - since the values we use to evaluate these successes are largely formed through our interaction with environment. And it is the pains we experience day to day which allow us to learn and grow.
I would postulate that wisdom is a far better value than monetary wealth. Otherwise we end up with a society who thinks they are all the shit, even with nothing to show for it.