Do you know how amazing you are?
As we mature, we become more self-aware and this isn't to be misunderstood as self-absorption. When we are self-aware, we understand ourselves and our relationship to our higher self.
God.
When we are healthily self-aware, it allows us to see who we are as God sees who we are and this can be an incredible journey. Knowing ourselves doesn't come naturally or easily. We have come to spend much of our valuable time distracted and overwhelmed by what happens around us that we often don't take time to consider what is going on inside of us.
As much as we may not like to admit it, we are a strange combination of good and evil. We often view things as light or dark. We determine our well-being as either healthy or ill and we often either approach things with hope or doom.
It's time to embrace these opposites.
We are all utterly amazing! We are each a miracle and a mystery all rolled into one.
Do you know this? Do you know yourself? Have you taken the time to delve deeper? Taking time to understand who you are, what makes you so amazing and how you have evolved on this life journey is crucial to why you're here. Let's take Marcus Aurelius, a Roman Emperor. He said that "a wise man gives himself frequent self-examinations."
Every day, if we simply followed this advice and took a moment to examine how we spent our day, recognizing what we've done well and what will we work on to do better next time - think of all the ways we would enrich our life.
Let's face it, we all have parts of ourselves that we dislike. To be human is to be imperfect.
We all have weaknesses and a big part of knowing ourselves is owning our own weaknesses and being vulnerable to intentionally spend time to work on them.
Now let's flip the coin - we all have strengths. Everyone is gifted in at least one area of their life, their being, their persona. Some people are exceptional cooks, some have musical talent, some have a way with words, and others are highly creative.
Spend time managing how you think. The happiness in our life depends on the quality of our thoughts. If you spend time thinking about what you're best at, it will energize you, help you to feel and stay excited, and keep you satisfied and fulfilled. Do the best that you can to minimize your time spent on your weaknesses. Doing this will exhaust you, frustrate and essentially suck the energy from your day. Our self-talk drives our actions.
Instead, develop your strengths. Don't focus your energy on your weaknesses, or worse, attempting to eliminate them. If you focus on developing your strengths, this is where your attention is and where your attention is brings more of the same. That which is like unto itself is drawn. Draw your attention to love - receive more love. Draw your attention to satisfaction - receive more satisfaction. Draw your attention to kindness - receive more kindness.
Again, flipping the coin - drawing our attention to things unfavorable, brings more of the same.
Draw in the goodness, the strength, success, satisfaction and gratitude and watch your life change for the better in time.
You are a gift - open up the package and look inside. To know yourself well is not always easy. It is often the most difficult part of one's life journey. Just when you think you know yourself, you may do something or say something and then another lesson into the deeper you is revealed.
Each day, take time to see yourself more clearly - weaknesses and strengths. As you grow, you learn more and more about yourself and this will help you to live an enriched life, a more productive life, and a more satisfied life.
Live and Love Intentionally is a series of chapters in a blog series where we explore all the ways in which we can live and love intentionally. It's through the contrast that life brings our way that we learn what we do not want and what we do want. Each day is significant and it matters how we approach it. Let's work together to make each day extraordinary, and less than ordinary. Our next chapter is Chapter Five | Relax