Know Thyself

Happy Sunday--you know what that means :)

I thought this was pretty cute, and also quite appropriate-

I've been getting so into my little web log here that I've put my OCD to work and made a running list of all kinds of topics I that I eventually want to talk about with you lovely readers. This here comic tickles me because I would so do something that ha!

I'm back in Knoxville, at work, extremely sleepy and trying to sort through all the lists in my head of things I need to get done this week:

+ The countdown has begun until my last day at work = T minus 4 days

+ I need to pack enough of my apartment up so that I can take a load home this weekend

+ I really really want to hear from a job lead in Memphis tomorrow!

[fingers crossed everyone]

June is rapidly coming to a close [where did this summer go?] and July is going to be absolutely nonstop for me; with moving and squeezing in all my vacations in the [possibly premature] hope that by August 1st I will be starting a new job. Eek!

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Today I bring you the fifth installment of What Should I Do With My Life, the pseudo-biography of a random collection of people brought to us with a hint of self-affirmation and life analysis from author Po Bronson. 

This section is entitled "Know Thyself"

[I must note that I dog-eared more pages in this section than any so far haha--but I will try to keep it as concise as possible]

He talked about people wearing different kinds of hypothetical "glasses" that pertain only to a limited spectrum of ideas:

 "Our surroundings may have changed, but our perspective lags. We all have our ways of looking at the world, and we have to ask. 'Am I looking through my own eyes, or am I looking through glasses I don't even realize are there?'

He addressed the "Inevitable Cocktail Party Question" of 'What do you do?':

 "...it serves a valuable role. The Question is how we hold ourselves accountable to the opportunity we are given."

Then he describes for one interviewee how other people describe what right feels like:

 "Like you're living your own genuine life, not someone else's. You stop comparing your life to some other imagined life in your head. Your like or dislike for what you do doesn't hinge on what happened that day, or even that month. The mind chatter stops, without being ordered to stop."

And finally, he asks yet another thought-provoking question:

"Can what-we-do really be in alignment with who-we-are? I think it can, if we let 'I'm going to be truer to myself' be the principle that drives our decisions every time we come to a crossroads. Through trial and error, we are pushed to greater recognition about what we really need. The Big Bold Step turns out to be only the first step."

This section had tons of gems that I think will be really valuable to read and re-read during trying times. He talked a lot about subtle things that can really limit a person; small things like thoughts and perceptions about yourself or your particular situation that, when you think them over and over again, can put constraints on yourself without you even realizing it.  

I thought this would be a really good exercise for me to try: to recognize my "limiting beliefs" and try to rethink them. For example:

(-) I won't be able to find a good job because I wasted my one opportunity

(+) I made a good decision for myself and I will be able to find a job that fits me better

(-) I can't spend a lot of money right now, which means I wasn't responsible with cash before and now I can't do anything fun.

(+) I will learn better budgeting and saving habits, not take financial stability for granted, and figure out other ways to do fun stuff without dropping lots of cash.

I encourage all of you to make a list like this for yourself and make the positive thoughts your new mantras--it really helps!

Yours, truly