So, who are you?
Previously I discussed an evolving sense of self (so who am I) and how thought can form a cornerstone on which a rational, examined life could be constructed.
We have an interior self that is constructed primarily from our thoughts. We also have an exterior self that is constructed primarily from our actions, the clothes we wear, our words, our choices in life, etc.
The interior self is private although others may speculate about it they can not experience it. The exterior self is public and is experienced by others. We can have experience based opinions of our own interior and exterior self but we can only have an experience based opinion of someone else's exterior self. We can speculate what others interior self may be like but we can not base that opinion on experience because of course we are not them. This leads me to an assertion that in some regards we can never know each other.
So, who are you?
Are we each to be an isolated island with no interconnectedness or can we come to a deeper understanding of each other? Let's try on an idea and see if it fits!
There is a gap between our interior and exterior self. That gap will always exist to an extent because of the difference between thought and action. That gaps however is unnecessarily enlarged (and misaligned) because we do not think about what we do and we do not do what we think about. If our actions followed from our thoughts we might expect the gap to be smaller and our actions and thoughts to be more aligned. If the gap were smaller people's exterior self would reflect more the interior self and vice-versa.
Aligning our thoughts and actions is part of maturing. The size of the gap between our interior and exterior self may reflect our level of maturity. Those people who seem very purpose driven in life, think about what they do and do what they are thinking about. There seems to be a clarity to their life and this in part derives from the fact that the gap between their thoughts and actions is small. Life is simpler this way.
So, who are you?
Are you a thinking being who works at reducing the gap between your thought and action? Are your thoughts and actions aligned?
So, who are you? ..... You think. ..... You should do what you think. ..... You should think about what you do.
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so who am i
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2 comments:
To this end, I will be starting ( either on my blog page or a seperate web page ) a "prove me wrong" list. The thinking being that, if we are to truly align our beliefs with reality ( thoughts and actions ) we must first start by asking the questions to which we expect the most painful answers. As an example: "I love the planet and believe in environmentalism. What are the things that I do which prove I don't, in fact, love the planet?".
- I drive a 6 cylinder Seebring
- I watch a 32 inch television
- I purchase goods which, from a kilometre away, any idiot can see are overpackaged in plastic.
- I work for a company which has, as part of it's mission statement, the aiding of the Oil & Gas industry in it's work
These are just examples. I'll be sure to alert you when I've got that part of my page set up.
To match thought with action and vice versa is probably a life long endeavour. Good luck with it.
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