This may be considered as questioning one's beliefs but I believe it is much more fundamental than that. We all have prejudices ... and they are not easily visible to us.
Unless an effort is made to understand them I believe one cannot really understand oneself.
So lets say we take something as trivial as "Why do I like like mangoes ?" You may like them -
- obviously due to the taste
- simply a health habit wrt to eating seasonal fruits
- or perhaps may be in some part - it evokes the feeling that you felt when you were at your grandparents house !!
So what ?? What is the big deal one may wonder ... but the questioning does not have to stop there.
Say one progresses to wonder why there is a dislike of maths [ or accounts/finance .....:) ].
May be it is not just because you thought you did not get a good teacher / guide ... it may also have been because being in a family of mathematical geniuses [ or something similar in terms of achievers ] you were more scared of failure .... and hence it was easier blaming someone or something ....
It may not inspire you to stop everything and rush off to become a CA now :) .... but your awareness may help you next time you come across maths or a balance sheet and may allow you to take your time to understand it ... or may be you will help someone who is in the same situation that you were in .... :) Perhaps you will manage your finances better ! :)
Take football or cricket .... there is a whole world of physics to be learnt when one sees the spin of the ball changing the course of the trajectory ....
[ I personally think that subjects like physics and maths should be taught more in terms of application ... they are more fun that way ... especially probability theory :) ..... but .. that is another topic altogether ]
Not everything you learn about yourself has to translate itself into an actionable item ... it is sometimes just enough to be aware ..... and ofcourse quite a few insights would be trivial ...
But to think about it .... when you know that you have bought that LIC policy not because you are convinced it is good for your financial goals but because everybody in your group got it [ and claim it is the best thing for you ! :) ] ; you are more likely to understand why your son insists on a Ben 10 watch (because everyone in his group has it) !!! You will more likely be able to empathize with his crumbling under the effects of peer pressure.
When you realize your choice of subjects in college were to conform to what your parents wanted - may be you will go easy on your children and allow them to choose what they want to do.
You may start to wonder on any number of things ....
- Why do you light a diya everyday ? And yet consider reading the Gita in old age only ? :)
- Why doesn't [ or does ] it disturb you when a 5yr old girl child is expected to understand and give in ... whereas her brother who is 10 yr old and throws a tantrum - is indulged .... ?
- Why is bharatnatyam [ or opera ] beautiful to you ?
Questioning your likes may make you realize that some of them are either irrelevant or the emotion [fear/sadness/compulsion] that made you choose is no longer applicable.
Gradually ... you may find yourself thinking on more deeper issues - questioning your faith, beliefs, religious teachings, gender bias, patriotism, caste leanings, work ethics etc.
The more you know why you are doing / liking / disliking something the more aware you become of your persona and .... that ... is the whole point of .... "Know thyself" !
When you know what motivates you , what moves you , what interests you .. you are able to move beyond that knowledge to making choices that more beneficial for yourself , your family, friends and work.
It is said that a 1000 mile journey begins with a step ... so ....may be it is time to ponder on ...
"Why do I like the color _______ ? " :)
2 comments:
About 7-8 years ago, I was in a training class, when the trainer asked a simple question to the class "how many of you think you know yourself?". I guess there were mixed responses, but I realized people who claimed to know themselves were the ones who had not the basic idea of what they were saying. Obviously, I was one of them. People who said they don't know themselves, had already made the first step in trying to do so.
Great post Vidya.
Thanks Rao for your comments ! :)
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