Day Twenty Six

DAY TWENTY SIX
Know Thyself

"Laugh, and the world laughs with you: Weep, and you weep alone." From Solitude, Ella Wheeler Wilcox.

I've cried enough in my lifetime that I could have a river named after me--a big river. Maybe one that fish could have lived in. It would have been a clean river, just a little salty though. But we have enough rivers. We have too many tears. We need more laughter.

But I don't want to talk about laughter right now, I want to talk about you. That's right--you.

Inscribed in the forecourt of the Ancient Greek Temple of Apollo at Delphi was the following aphorism, or maxim: "Know thyself." Another ancient maxim, from the Hermetic tradition asks, "Know ye not that ye are Gods?" I don't want to delve too deeply into the latter maxim, for it will require far too much epistemic and metaphysical dissection; I simply want the two to be brought together, because the latter requires knowledge and complete understanding of the first.

Know thyself. Say it out loud. Repeat it. Internalize it and make it meaningful. I've spent my entire life attempting to know myself. I've found that with great humility and the utmost honesty, I have come to know myself extensionally. By that I mean, as an extension of all things I am connected to, and vice versa. Really, that's a terrible way to define yourself, in terms of "relatedness" and not "selfness", but it's a start nevertheless. I've learned by examining my life this way what my true strengths are, what my weaknesses are, and what my limitations are. I've learned that some of my weaknesses are simply limits on some of my strengths. If I were stronger in certain areas, I'd eliminate certain weaknesses altogether. So, I don't let my weaknesses define me. I define myself by my strengths. My weaknesses are really "strengths in progress."

This brings me to another point. That of respect. Respect is a loaded word that connotes much imagery. Effectively, respect is admiration and acknowledgment shown to something or someone that possesses certain qualities worthy of said admiration and acknowledgment. Thus, in the process of coming to know thyself, respect will enter once thyself has come to be known. And like love, one cannot respect anything else until one first respects oneself. So, respect those qualities you possess that you admire. Then, respect life. For if it weren't for life, none of this would be possible. Then respect others. They possess innumerable respectable qualities, even some you might not yet have. But never, never respect someone who does not respect you. Either they themselves do not respect who they are, or they do not see you as you are. Don't not offer respect spitefully or hatefully, rather, simply don't offer it. You'll be wasting your time and theirs, and you'll slow the process of self-discovery. You could potentially be thrown off-track which might lead you to ask defeating questions that keep you from the truth about who you are.

Now, once you've mastered knowing yourself extensionally, then you can work on defining your selfness. Selfness is that which makes you you. It is the one thing that separates you from everything and everyone else. It's terribly hard to find, it's literally one of a kind, and most especially, it belongs only to you. The journey to selfness begins with understanding the second maxim.

Now, let us laugh. It's one quality we all share, and second to love, it's our best quality.

Hope this helps,
Love, AO