“Never forget what you are, for surely the world will not. Make it your strength. Then it can never be your weakness. Armour yourself in it, and it will never be used to hurt you.”-George RR Martin
All of us struggle with our identities; with what is right or wrong; with what is good or bad; with what is true and what is not.
We like to make statements to prove that we're reasonably right (perhaps even "righter" than others); to be accepted for our ideas, opinions, appearances and behaviors; to react to something or someone exactly on how we've been feeling or thinking, so on and so forth.
In other words, we tend to deviate towards a side, for certain things we believe in...
Expect definite answers to certain things we believe to be good and true.
Believe, prefer and respect something; yet hate and disregard something, to a certain extent.
Explicitly express, yet not express something, for and against someone or something, in certain times.
But, then again...
Nothing is ever distinct, or towards a side, isn't it? It's like trying to erase a splash of ink across a blank piece of paper, manually repairing a broken vase to how it was...like Yin and Yang.
With every bad, comes a drop of good, as do likewise. What may seem right and true, might be false and deceiving.
It will be gray, never entirely black or white...or any certain color code. Mind you, it can even be rainbow!
Yet again, some of us, especially me, may be wrong too, right? Perhaps in your convictions, there is a side to everything, and that is what gives what we can sense and know, some form of order.
And that is also right, even though some of us may not entirely embrace the existence of the idea!
Everything seems interconnected together, like an intricate, deep web, even though these links between us may seem abstract and non-existent.
Physically, we may be similar, yet arbitrarily and mentally, we may not be; even though we don't know, or haven't met, each other; and even if we didn't come across the same elements or influences.
Our personalities, backgrounds, value systems and beliefs are somewhat different, yet somewhat same.
Life can be predictable, and unpredictable. Things can be beautiful, and not beautiful.
Systems can be orderly, and disorganized. Some choices can be right, and wrong.
Humans can be moral, and immoral. Judgmental, and open-minded. Meticulous, and rash. Optimistic, and pessimistic. Emotional, and logical.
Same action, different results.
Whoa, wait a minute...this is too broad for a human like me to list! I need to rein myself in for a bit.
We're always somewhere on the spectrum, experiencing a myriad; a mixture of everything, but never distinctly and solely somewhere in the same spectrum.
And this brings me to what I wish to share with you today.
That we might have to accept that there are contradicting complexities of our world; things we can't completely and truly comprehend, tolerate or compensate for.
That there are gaps we cannot fill; changes we cannot alter; things that might not exist.
That we're not always right.
That our true selves will always differ from our perceptions, or versions, of ourselves.
I vibe with you. It annoys, and scares, some of us to realize that we might be wrong, not as knowledgeable, or different than how, what or who we are at this timing and at this place.
We can also be quite defensive of ourselves, and anxious when we don't have a definite, foreseeable solution on hand.
All of this is like a defect that is nagging to be corrected; an unbelievable, implausible theory made up by conspirators or extremely dreamy, irrational beings of the same race.
It's like saying...
"Humans are made out of paper, and aliens are real."
Or
"I'm not mature, sensible or capable enough to know what I want or am doing at the moment, who I want to be and how I wish to do things."
Yeah...right.
Let's discuss an example. I look at myself in the mirror; I touch and feel things; I use my 5 senses adequately; I think and I feel about people and things.
When I go out and mingle with certain beings in certain environments, I am performing according to social customs, common behaviors and local cultures.
From there, it seems like common knowledge that there is nothing wrong with me, and I am a functioning human being with a capacity for a certain level of reason, emotion and logic.
But...
When I face something or someone that opposes my beliefs, I instinctively feel, react and think in a certain way, and may want to justify that I'm right, by influencing these things to bend into my ways; ways I'm comfortable with.
When something unexpected or undesirable pops up, I don't always know how to react to it appropriately and swiftly, or the right person to look for help.
Now it seems that I know what I want, how I am and who I am. But after a while, I changed how I feel, appear, behave, sense, see or think.
Now, as some of you read what I've shared by now...
You don't feel like spending this time and energy to think this deeply about things.
To you, everything is already simple and clear cut, explained and proven by scientists, researchers, established businessmen and other reputable individuals.
You may also disagree with me, and would like to justify your position.
So, I welcome you to join in our friendly debate, or to try thinking in this way about this...even if it's just for a while!
Because it not only hones your critical thinking skills and make you seem somewhat smart (and kind of old, I know some of you see philosophy this way)...
It allows you to think on who you want to be, what you want to do, how you would like to be or do things, why you would do such things and when you would like to do what to whom.
It also allows you to be less opinionated; more emotionally calm; more appreciative of yourself; everyone and your life; and more flexible and aware in your methods, behaviors and interactions.
I will now conclude. This debate shall carry on, and it might never end until time's end; and there are no longer beings who have equal capabilities and capacities for reason, emotion and logic.
Till then...
Let's learn what we can from what we have, and co-exist with each other, until we fade out of each other's lives, and permanently lose a certain fact, perception, behavior, idea or skill that we have.
＃认识的自己
＃认识的世界
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