Monday, August 06, 2007

?

The other day during a conversation, I listened to someone practically scream, 'who am I?' I realsied that this was a question which has come up in numerous blogs and poems etc over the last year or so; and yet I have to admit, that in spite of all that discussion, I am still no closer to discovering who I really am.

I am a very very analytical person, particularly when it comes to myself - my attitudes, my feelings, my thoughts, my motivations, my decisions - I could go on! And yet I don't really know myself. For me, the poem below sums it up:

I don’t know what I’m good at, Or even what I’m not.
I don’t know what my gifts are, or which ‘gifts’ aren’t so hot.
I don’t know when I feel indifferent, or where passions lie.
I don’t know what I’m meant to do, or when I should decline.

I don’t know when I’m deceiving myself, I don’t know when I’m right.
I don’t know how to believe myself, or how to stop the fight.
I don’t know what my heart says, or what I truly feel.
I don’t know who I am inside, I don’t know what is real.

So my question - can we ever truly know ourselves? Can we ever be sure that what we say we feel or think is real? Is it possible to decieve yourself? Is it possible that you could have become so analytical that you don't even know what's real and what's not anymore?

Is it sometimes right to just go ahead and do something even if you are not sure its 'right', just because you are so tired of analysing it, and so confused by it all that you can't even distinguish anymore what is true and what is not?

Sometimes I think that other people know or understand me better than I do myself. Is that possible?

8 comments:

Liz said...

Hah! - in a loving way :)

Unknown said...

What's that meant to mean?

Liz said...

It's meant to mean HAH!

It really means that it's odd that some people think they know you better than you know yourself and that I like to be a person that thinks they do, or rather thinks they can see potential or something in you OR AN OTHER that they cannot see, but hate it when other people think they know ME better than I do!

So much to be communicated by one little word huh?

Joe said...

I know what you mean. Sometimes, the woman who gives random "Hah!"s says something to me, like, "I thought you were more like that" or "I knew you'd do alright at that". It leaves me thinking "?".

Unknown said...

Oh!

nigel said...

People don't KNOW you better than yourself - they just have different life experiences that sometimes mean that they can empathise with you. They may have known someone well who is similar to you and know what you're about. When someone lacks this understanding you'll probably get frustrated with them for not knowing where you are coming from. At the end of the day you know exactly what you are like. The problem you have is knowing how best to accept this and utilise it. One thing I notice is how you are frustrated with wanting to do so much more for God but not knowing what that exactly means. God has made you the way you are. Accept it, enjoy it and make the most of it. God uses you in the way you want, likewise, accept and enjoy. Don't get low with frustrations, God uses you for his purposes. It doesn't mean sitting on your backside wiating but it means praying and not getting frustrated by things not happening quick enough or the way you'd hoped etc. These are things you know, these are things that I'm 100% sure you've been told before. I hope that it's a useful reminder though and is written very much with myself in mind too because I stuggle in very similar ways to you. Try to analyse yourself less. Know yours triggers, when you need to stop thinking, how too turn around negative thought processes or even stop thinking. I'm not saying don't analysis but when your brain hurts - STOP! Love Nigel

nigel said...

"Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus." Phi 4:6-7

Ann said...

Stop thinking and just Trust ! Like it! Especialling when your brain hurst....love the Verse too Nigel, thanks for the reminder for me as well as Kirsty.