Drawing strength from within and not from outside – getting to know yourself

If a person can only grow mentally and spiritually complete thru external nourishment. Then this person is like a plant that always requires plenty of sunlight and rain. If there no rain or light for whatever reason, he or she will not grow at all. Worst, he or she will shrivel up and die.

But if a person has dedicated himself seriously to the study of how to lead a purpose driven life and is able to banish all worldly delusions. Then he would have the everlasting truth within him – this is a light that cannot be extinguished by rain clouds or even a 300 API haze.

Such a person is like a cactus when it comes to water requirement and very shade resistant.

——————————————————————–

‘One of the greatest travesties ever perpetrated by mankind is the ridiculous notion – for man to find meaning in his life. He must continually marinate himself in the company of other men and constantly seek their approval, blessing and respect.

As a result of this corrosive logic, most men today do not even know themselves – they seem to know everyone…except the most needful person…themselves.

Because most men are perfect strangers to themselves, they are by default no better than insecure children who look up to others for a sense of validation and approval.

That is why so many men are enslaved by the narcotic of what other people think about them – they need the constant approval, blessing and respect of others just to get by. Once this external stimuli is cut off – like the fabled drug addict, this man will begin to suffer withdrawal symptoms. First he experience the shakes. Then his world will begin to crumble from within.

This is the reason why when some men lose their jobs. They also lose their sense of place in society along with self respect – it’s as if so much of their being is invested in other people and when the center gives in there is little or nothing of substance to hold it all together within….so is it such a wonder when their world collapses.

This is the reason why you will have no difficulty whatsoever to seek out so many men who lack true confidence, conviction and a sense of oneness with themselves. Even those who appear seemingly confident are at best only in a deluded state. Because when you strip them of their status symbols, they too will crumble into nothingness.

This should prompt the perceptive reader to ask – where then is the right place to place for one to invest in and why?

True confidence…real strength of character and unshakeable belief in oneself can only come from investing in the self in the way a gardener tends to his orchard dutifully – because when one builds strength within the self thru character and wisdom….these things are within and not in the external world. So even should the world run amok – the center will never give in. It will remain solid and continue to support the infrastructure of the self.

To accomplish this remarkable feat.

All that a man needs to do is – cultivate the love of his own company. This may sound easy, but it is not. The perceptive reader would have noted this. As in the beginning I wrote….One of the greatest travesties ever perpetrated by mankind….So this seemingly simple process of getting to know yourself is hardly easy.

For one, the man who truly wants to draw nourishment from within and not from the world at large, must first learn to cast aside the great lie of the world that fills him with shame and fear when he tries to get to know himself better.

That is because so much of world considers such an endeavor, a form of incomprehensible madness.

Do you notice everyone writes books about how to make friends…how to not come across as a serial killer….how to influence other people. But no one ever writes a book about how to get to know yourself better!

So I want to be clear….we are venturing into terra incognito here! This is new territory. Because no one has ever shared this with you before.

This also means. The man who yearns to know himself, must first wordsmith a new narrative – where it’s possible to get to know himself in the way one gets to know another only for friendship, brotherhood and love to blossom.

You will find when you try to get better acquainted with yourself – your mind will turn against you…know it for what it is…it is a reflect action. You will suddenly feel the overpowering urge to reconnect with others as soon as you begin a conversation with yourself. You will SMS. You will call your fiends and ask them whether they are free. You will be very restless etc etc.

That is perfectly natural, as for so many years, you have been scripted and conditioned to believe – to be happy…complete..and whole, you must be a friend to everyone and above all a complete stranger to yourself.

Now you have throw that Bible out of the window and start a new book! So how can that possibly be easy? Let us be realistic.

Above all, no one has ever shared this with you before. That is why you will never ever find a man sitting all by himself in a crowded restaurant savoring his food and enjoying his own company.

But once you dedicate your mind, body and spirit to get to know yourself better. Once you go beyond the facade of the social taboo that says – being alone is just for losers and dysfunctional people. Once you get to know yourself so well that you can even laugh at your own idiosyncrasies and learn not take yourself too seriously – you will at some point reach a point of reconciliation where you will make peace with who you are along with where you stand in this world. All these things will be very clear to you. Because when one cultivates the newly reincarnated man in the temple of deep within the self. There is no short cutting – you can’t pat yourself on the back or exclaim ‘well done!’ Not when you know it’s not right up there with your expectation of quality, delivery reliability etc etc. So to cultivate the company of the self is really like having a conversation with the naked truth…there is no coloration or abberation of the truth. That is impossible in a deep spirited discourse with the self. That is only possible when one is in the company of many where one may indulge in manufacturing and even fashioning parochial, insular and twisted versions of the truth to serve specious ends…that is the brutality of cultivating your own company…the truth will always surface….and when those conditions are available only then is it possible for the man who is perfectly comfortable in his own skin to wake up from his deep slumber of darkness.

Before this man was just a child looking up at the world pleadingly for approval, validation, love and respect…now as the man who knows every aspect of himself that is all nonsense.’