28 Apr Awaken Your Best Self

This blog post was written by Recovery Help Now’s, Cindy Weathers, MFTi.

Initiating therapy can be a difficult step to take for many.  Why would this be the case if therapy can bring about so much insight and growth?  Humans universally avoid thinking deeply about ourselves because that process can reveal how little we know, how limited and fragile our relationships are, how little control we have over life, how ashamed we are of ourselves, how constantly vulnerable we are to pain and death, etc. Thus, we subtly resist getting to know ourselves–preferring to have our illusions that “everything will magically work out.”  Naturally we don’t like to uncover bad things about ourselves.  Unfortunately, seeking the comfort and denial of ignorance makes it unlikely that we will cope well and self-improve in any of these areas that we prefer not to face.

I would argue that it is better to be aware and have a chance to cope with some “problematic” personal characteristic than to have this undesirable trait operating inside,  and be ignorant of it and, thus, helpless to change. Being insightful means you see your faults, your failed opportunities, your selfish and mean impulses, your self-serving self-deceptions, etc. This is humbling and can be very scary.  Nevertheless, insight is made more tolerable if you can take a deterministic attitude, believe everyone has all kinds of bad thoughts and feelings, and think you can and will stay in control so long as you know what is going on inside of you. Facing your true nature is more of an asset than a liability.

Everyone faces the predicament – self-study or self-avoidance and I encourage you to learn as much as you can about yourself and others.  Relationships with others is one of the most important aspects of life.  Many people resist getting to know their true selves –I encourage you to take the plunge, and begin your journey to awaken your best self!