A Meeting

A majority of people have never met themselves. They are a complete mystery to themselves and spend no time and effort to solve the mystery. I recently took a quiz to understand my ‘personality’. I don’t know what algorithm was used to discover my personality for me, I don’t know if it was reliable or even safe. Now I think that the time I spent looking outside, asking someone else about who I am and how I am, could’ve been spent asking these questions to myself. Yes, taking a quiz is more convenient and definitely time saving but is it accurate at all? Asking someone else about us, using our five senses, which are all outward looking, is it a reliable way to discover oneself? Before we dig into this, why should we even know ourselves?

Yes, it helps in job interviews but even there our answers are fabricated to suit the needs of the interviewer. I remember borrowing answers to this question from my friends. We were all honest and smart-working with an eye for detail and constantly pushed ourselves to exceed expectations. I am sure we were not the only ones. Of the many problems that such a response would create one is that there will be a vast disconnect between the job requirements and the capability of the candidate. And such responses are then mimicked in our lives as well, creating a vast difference between reality and perception. This not only leaves us confused but also suppresses our potential. A person who doesn’t know himself/herself will never know what they are capable of, what the goal of their life is, what path they should take to be successful in life. They’ll be just a broken log in a flood.

But knowing oneself, the process itself is fascinating. Well, for one, you are bound to find yourself cool. If you don’t then, aren’t you cool enough that you find yourself less cool? Get it? It’s a paradox. Just imagine talking to yourself, looking at yourself, what are you wearing? How are you feeling? How do you look? Ask questions that you would ask a stranger who you want to be friends with. Don’t think before answering, you’ll be fascinated with your own answers. That’s you telling yourself who you are, what you like and dislike, what you want to do, what you are good at and the dreaded interview questions like your strengths and weaknesses. You may write down your answers as well if you like, so you can revisit them later and remind yourself of…well…yourself.

It was one of the best meetings I had when I met myself. A lot of pretensions were cleared and I got to know what I didn’t know that I didn’t know. The ideas by which I had been living my life were shattered and it wasn’t the end of the world. For once, I faced the truth and accepted it without colouring it with my own perceptions. For once, there was no gap between reality and perception and I felt like I had meditated. It was like finding a long lost friend.