I was asked this question a couple of years ago and unlike my usual self, I wasn’t sure about my answer. When we think about ourselves, we often believe that it’s the easiest thing to figure out. After all, it’s us. How hard can it be?
“How well do you know yourself?”
But soon things start to shift from ‘me’ to ‘them’. Society, people, friends, we start becoming all about them. We pick on all the ‘accepted and appreciated’ qualities of the world, without any real introspection. And that’s where we lose ourselves. Here’s why you shouldn’t:
1. Because you spend most of your time with yourself.
2. Because your opinion about you matters the most.
3. Because knowing others without knowing yourself will only confuse the crap out of you.
4. Because people will come and go. You can only learn so much about a certain few.
5. Because in this dog-eat-dog world you’ve got to look out for yourself first.
And knowing yourself better than anything else is the best way to go about it.
6. Because when you know yourself, you trust yourself more than anyone else.
You take decisions for yourself and trust them too, regardless of what others might perceive. Nobody can mess with you, you know!
7. Because you don’t need an acknowledgement from yourself. All you need is acceptance.
8. Because you can pamper yourself in the most fitting of ways.
Pampering others might be a problem. You know, they might not like what you’d want to do for them. You can never be completely sure. But with yourself, you can.
9. Because it will constantly motivate you to grow into the best version of yourself.
You cannot get better than the world. It’s just too big a sea to swim past. You’ll end up drowning. Why not focus on yourself instead?
10. Because the lesser you know about others the happier you stay.
Why do you think kids are so happy? They know too little. They don’t compare themselves to others kids. They just go for what they want.
11. Because when you know yourself, you respect and love yourself more.
How you perceive yourself, is exactly how the world sees you.
12. And thus, you can answer some severely deep questions about your life, which no friend or counselor can help you with.
13. Because you know what exactly determines your happiness and you can work towards it without any distractions.
And find true happiness in the process.
14. Because nobody can fix you better than you.
15. Because you won’t end up chasing/ doing anything you don’t really want.
Less number of wrong decisions to deal with!
16. And lastly, because you only take yourself to your deathbed. No one else!
This point might seem a little depressing. But it definitely doesn’t indicate for you to be a narcissist pig. The idea is to value yourself enough for a happy ending with yourself 🙂
