How well do you know yourself?

[Nakosis]

Have you ever though of "who am I really? Or am I pressenting outward who i am on the inside?"

Have you been afraid of exploring your own being due to being afraid of what others think of you?

If you find your "self", kill it.

IMO, to know yourself you end up constructing a concept of who you are. So whatever you find, it won't be you.
I don't think we can actually know our "self" but we can always create another concept of self to identify with.

 

[Trailblazer]

You can't know yourself.

You can know some of yourself but only what you are consciously aware of, and that's not much, because 95 percent of brain activity goes beyond our conscious awareness.

 

[syo]

Have you ever though of "who am I really?

No.

 

[Spirit of Light]

If you find your "self", kill it.

IMO, to know yourself you end up constructing a concept of who you are. So whatever you find, it won't be you.
I don't think we can actually know our "self" but we can always create another concept of self to identify with.

I mean as my outward expression,spiritually i am aware i am a spirit in a physical body

 

[Nakosis]

I mean as my outward expression,spiritually i am aware i am a spirit in a physical body

I wasn't being critical. I just suspect every time you look, you'll find a different you.

 

[JustGeorge]

Truer words were never said. I shouldn't brag but when I first wrote my future wife Sara I was honest and truthful about myself, and that quality itself attracted her to me she later told me. I was stunned by how fast I got a letter back. I was in seventh heaven, I knew what this meant. I so wanted a life-long companion for years. I was 31 years old. My 40th anniversary is on Saturday.

Congratulations on 40 years! May there be many more happy years ahead!

Well, I did know i was trying to keep something hidden from both myself and others. And my new profile photo say a lot about what I didn't want to admit in the past.

I don't say my change is finished, I have more to discover about who i am.

I know I am not trans, but I realized i am not fully straight either. I have some more seeking to do about that part of me.
Only time can tell.
But I no longer let my fear hinder me in trying aspects i discover.

Well, make up doesn't always signify sexuality. My oldest son is bisexual, but would never wear make up. My middle son... well, I know few who are less masculine, yet, he loves to get into Mom-Mom's make up. Why? Who wouldn't want green lips? How much fun is that? With autism, kids don't always pick up gender nuances, so he looks at it much differently.

I had a lot of difficult with gender issues in my 20s. Who/what am I? It really ate me up for a good while...

Strangely, over time, I found comfort in my ex's insult: "You're the only woman I know that can wear heels and still walk like a man." He was upset; he felt my feminine appearance had deceived him, and he'd gotten with a man in a dress. So, that's how I say I feel sometimes; like a man in a dress. And that's fine. I am fine the way I am.

I wasn't being critical. I just suspect every time you look, you'll find a different you.

I always find that fascinating, especially as I age and hormones and brain chemicals change. Even one day to the next is a new you potentially!

 

[F1fan]

Have you ever though of "who am I really? Or am I pressenting outward who i am on the inside?"

Have you been afraid of exploring your own being due to being afraid of what others think of you?

Not realy.

In my experience it isn't "who I am" but what fears I have about what I am capable of doing or being, and irrational ideas about my image, both to myself, or how others might see me. This isn't really a problem like it was when I was younger. What I learned is that there isn't an ideal, perfect self to become, but the garbage thinking that there IS an ideal self, Many of us get lost in illusions about the self,a nd this psychodrama is exhausting and extinguishes our spirit. The more our spirit flames out the more desperate we can get for truth. The truth suffocates our spirit and it is easy to believe our dogma is our spirit. Nope. The more we stri away from our identity the more our Spirit can live and breathe. It opens us to take more risks, but that is the path that leads us to who we are capable of being. Can a person risk dumping religious ideology and be a raw, spiritual person? If that is what they decide.

 

[Spirit of Light]

I wasn't being critical. I just suspect every time you look, you'll find a different you.

I don't take your word critical

 

[Quagmire]

It's good to go back through events and periods in your life and see what they look like once you've removed yourself from them and get to take a look at them as an objective observer.

A lot of the time I'll replay an incident where I'd felt like I'd been cheated or treated unfairly (ie., I was the poor victim in that episode) and realize, "Nah. I deserved everything I got there".

Either because I was operating under the wrong motives, or I was somewhere I shouldn't have been in the first place.

It's a good way to get rid of anger and self-pity and replace them with shame and embarrassment (which isn't a whole lot better but at least it's different and those feelings don't seem to last as long)..

 

[TagliatelliMonster]

Have you ever though of "who am I really? Or am I pressenting outward who i am on the inside?"

I am who I am.

The hilarious Netflix show "Norsemen" featured this quote once, which I thought was absolutely hilarious, but at the same time it is as deep and true as it is stupid and obvious:

Be yourself. Everyone else is taken.




Having said that... I think it takes both courage and self-confidence to "be yourself". Society tends to impose "expectations" of how you should look, what you should find "cool", how you should talk, etc. I think it generally takes courage to rise above those social expectations and show them your middle finger and say "no, I will not conform to the latest meme / fashion of what is supposedly 'cool' or whatever".

It's, in social terms, far easier to just "roll with the flow" and be part of the grey masses.

Have you been afraid of exploring your own being due to being afraid of what others think of you?

What others think of me is the last thing that I worry about.

Note: "think of me" as a person in terms of character traits, sense of humor, fashion sense, (dis)beliefs, musical taste etc.

I do care how others think of my behavior, of how I treat them.
There's a difference between your person and how you deal with social relations.

I will not change my taste of music, my hairstyle, my fashion sense, etc for anyone.
But I might alter my behavior and language depending on social situation.

 

[TagliatelliMonster]

Better to be disliked for who you are than liked for who you're not.

I like that.

Very nice.

 

[mikkel_the_dane]

When I was very young.

I snapped out of that relatively young; early teen years. I got a lot of resentment for it, of course, which was sometimes dramatic to deal with, but I'd rather be me and deal with bumps than deal with pretending to be someone else.

No matter what, some will like you, some will not. Better to be disliked for who you are than liked for who you're not.

I am crazy in some sense and I have learned to live with that and cope with and I am proud of it as me, because it works good enough for me. So for that part I am me, I don't pretend to be normal.

 

[Wildswanderer]

Have you ever though of "who am I really? Or am I pressenting outward who i am on the inside?"

Have you been afraid of exploring your own being due to being afraid of what others think of you?

I think I've always tried to understand who I am .. except when I got too busy making a living.
That's why I write stories and journal.

 

[JustGeorge]

I am crazy in some sense and I have learned to live with that and cope with and I am proud of it as me, because it works good enough for me. So for that part I am me, I don't pretend to be normal.

Same here!