Inspired after exchanging ideas with my cousin, a topic I hold close to my heart.
The year I turned 18, was a year full of questions about myself. I never looked back ever since. The more I asked, the more I wanted to learn about myself- who exactly am I? What purpose do I have on this planet? What am I made to do? Don’t these questions bug from time to time?
Self-exploration can be a very painful thing to do. Especially when you start to realise that there isn’t something you’re terribly great at. Not only will this affect one’s self-esteem, it may reach a point where one may question his own self-worth. You become more vulnerable and overly-emotional too. This is one of the downsides there is to self-exploration- to be hurled into a crater of self-doubt and disbelief.
Sometimes, it can be such a laborious odyssey that many may opt to run away from the hardships in the quest to find themselves. There are numerous twists and turns throughout the journey and it’s a necessary part of self-exploration, to go on this seemingly long fruitless chase of what actually matters to you. If everything was presented to you on a plate, how much of it will you truly cherish?
Then, we have people claiming how self-exploration is a waste of time in our current accelerated modern day life. For practical reasons many will choose to go about their daily money-making routine without seriously considering the goodness self-exploration yields. That’s how we get middle-aged adults complaining of the mid-life crisis they’re susceptible to. See what happens when you don’t self-explore?
Seems intimidating huh? This whole self-exploration thing which can turn one into an emotional wreck with the insane amount of time one has to spend on amidst the hullaballoo of our contemporary world. However, I have grown to love it over the past two years.
Our world, no matter how perfect you perceive it to be, will always be imperfect. Everyone, everywhere are forever chasing to reach the next level. It is a choice to follow that endless race or to pull yourself out amongst everybody to find your path- to run your own race. It takes tremendous courage to head down this alternative route especially with the horrors you may encounter, but believe me, it’ll be worth it. The lesser we have of the latter kind of people, the more our world is at risk of becoming a factory house, churning out impassive, mechanical robots.
The thing we need to get right is that self-exploration is never a one day or one week, sometimes not even a one year thing. It takes years of patience to genuinely find yourself.
We all have our individual interests, an activity we take much comfort in. One amazingly fun part of self-exploration is the discovery of new pursuits. The average person will get by with matters that allows him to survive. He is willing to dwell in the heart of endless routines without the need of novelty, this is a sad pattern in our growing capitalistic society. Before it becomes our modern day culture, let’s buck the trend and ask yourself whether you have any burning desires within. Have you taken any action to placate that rampant wildebeest inside you? What are you waiting for? Even if you’re devoid of any specific interest, there’s got to be a thing or two which you have craved to try. Now is the time to drop all your uncertainties and spend time to find out more about that particular potential escapade. The fear to take these strides forward has left many in their shells, unaware of the vast opportunities available in the world.
The human mind is the most powerful one amongst all species to have graced this Earth. In every one of us lies something locked deep within our mind. Will. Don’t underestimate this little fella especially if you haven’t completely understand the prowess of the human mind. And guess which agent holds the key to enlightening us about it, I’m sure it’s pretty obvious by now. Self-exploration is the tool to realising the true capacity of our mind. Whenever a task seems too overwhelming, be slow to assume that it’s beyond your means but quick to confide in yourself. When your mind tries to convince you that there’s no way around it, be firm to say “no”. Move on to ask yourself, where exactly is causing you problems and don’t panic if there’s no instant solution.
Instead, continue asking yourself for the first step. The first step is critical. If you haven’t noticed, these questions are part of self-exploration. We are unearthing our inner competencies we never imagine to have possessed. It’s these small questions that picks the lock of the door for access to the human will. Never surrender no matter how dire the circumstance. Rather, embrace the practice of self-exploration and work your way, little by little to exercise the will we all have to heave you out of the quandary.
I’ve said so much but you might not necessarily buy whatever that have been uttered. What if somewhere, somehow, my self-exploration goes wrong, what should I then do? For sure there’s that apprehension when you’re just starting out. But one thing you have to understand is that in anything we do, risks are always involved in one way or another. The day you re-discover what you’re truly passionate for and decide to pursue it, the next thing you know you might be struggling to make ends meet. Or when you’re trying to find a resolution to a matter but only to fall into a bigger mess that leads to even more trauma. It’s all part of our natural survival instincts to harbour such thoughts, which is why I don’t insist you to take up self-exploration. It may not be for everyone but think of it this way. Without attempting to self-explore, will your predicament get any better? Absolutely not.
How then, should you go about it?
The question you should be asking is “What do you want to do with your life?” and you’ll probably be able to decide whether or not to hop on this voyage. Yes, ask yourself that. That might be of help.
“What do I want to do with my life?”
Hold on, I see what you just did there.psspas
deecee-who 