Of all the axioms and famous one liners I have heard this one has received a lot of attention throughout history. Just like you I am sure, I have heard perspectives ranging from those that say it is the silliest bit of advice ever and those that say it is the only thing one needs do for absolute freedom. Well rest assured …. we will NOT be putting the debate to rest here today! lol!
But who can deny that NOT knowing ourselves can sometimes lead to more difficulty?
I was talking with a friend and she was relating to me something that had happened since we last spoke. (it had been a while.) She said “all her life she didn’t know exactly why, but for some reason she just didn’t get along with the “cowboys” of the world.” She meant it literally that is to say, “specifically men that wore cowboy hats and boots and looked and acted like cowboys.” She continued that this never seemed like a real problem, except when she would go out because for some reason “she always seemed to also attract that type.” lol! She said, “I tried dating a few guys but they were just “so cowboy” that it always ended quickly and she always felt bad after words because “deep down she knew it wasn’t about them but for some reason she couldn’t get on board.”
So eventually she just got to the point that “she didn’t go to places were cowboys were.” She said, “everything was fine until about 6 months back when she got a new boss.” And as it turned he was a “poster child of an American cowboy”. (her words) What she meant was, he not only liked western style clothing, but he was a “cowboy at heart.” She said, “he brought in pictures of famous cowboys and hung them in his office.” and “started quoting famous cowboys at meetings.” lol! She went on, “every time he spoke it seemed like he was either quoting a famous cowboy or asking how one would wrangle the situation, or had something cowboy to say.” She said “I was getting so many cowboy references because others in the office had started ‘chiming in’ cowboy references too, it was to the point that I couldn’t focus any more.” “He would come into my office, say three words, and I would be stewing about it for the rest of the afternoon.” So her performance started to slip not to mention her simple joy throughout the day. And evidently her slip in performance didn’t look so good to the new boss. She was put on probation.
She said, “eventually I thought, Lord there has got to be away around this! I need some help!”
So she explained that it was either “quit, get fired, or figure out what was going on with her.” So she said, “I started talking with someone” and that, “during one of our sessions the topic of my stepfather came up.” She said “besides the way he dressed, he was actually a lot like this guy in the way he approached challenges and acted sometimes.” Well long story short she said “the day that I realized that I was projecting some “unfinished business I had with my step dad onto my knew boss, was the first day that that I actually noticed how good he was as a boss.” She said, “He is kind and fair, he listens intently when employees come with problems. And he his very committed to a job well done not only by his team but himself as well.” “He’s the perfect boss! Even if his cowboy jokes can be kind of corny sometimes.”, she said. lol!
Obviously she worked out here problems with her new boss err … stepfather. LOL!
(she is no longer on probation at work either!)
But how did it become a problem in the first place except that she didn’t know herself? Because she hadn’t recognized as yet, that she had some understanding still to do, regarding her stepfather and their relationship? Maybe knowing thyself is all we really need to do and maybe it isn’t, but can it hurt?
Where is the Self? Where is Within?
(find one and the other is probably “a stones throw away.”)
_______________________
In Process 04/01
04/27- looks great! Thanks John!!!
Of all the axioms and famous one liners I have heard, ”Know Thyself” has received a lot of attention throughout history. Just like you, I am sure I have heard perspectives ranging from; “It is the silliest bit of advice ever”, to those saying “It is the only thing one needs do for absolute freedom.“ Well, rest assured …. we will not be putting that debate to rest here today! lol!
But who can deny that NOT knowing ourselves can sometimes lead to more difficulty?
I was talking with a friend who related to me something that had happened since we had last spoken. (It had been a while.) She told me ‘all of her life’ (and she didn’t know exactly why), but for some reason she just didn’t get along with the ‘cowboys’ of the world. She meant this literally. Specifically, men who wore cowboy hats and boots, and who looked and acted like cowboys. She continued on telling how this never seemed like a real problem, except when she went out. For some reason, she always seemed to attract that type. She said, “I tried dating a few guys but they were just ‘so cowboy’.” It had always ended quickly and she always felt badly afterwords because deep down she knew it wasn’t about them ….but for some reason she just couldn’t get on board.
Eventually my friend got to the point that she didn’t go places where there were cowboys. She said everything was fine until about 6 months back when she got a new boss. As it turned out (Her words) “He was the ‘poster child’ of an American cowboy. What she meant was, he not only liked western style clothing, but he was a cowboy at heart. He brought in pictures of famous cowboys and hung them in his office. He quoted famous cowboys at meetings.” lol! Every time he spoke it seemed to her like he was either quoting a famous cowboy or asking how one would wrangle the situation, or had something cowboy to say about every matter. “I got so many cowboy references because others in the office had started ‘chiming -in’ with cowboy references too. It was to the point that I couldn’t focus anymore,” She told me. “He would come into my office, say three words, and I would be stewing about it for the rest of the afternoon.” Her performance started to slip, not to mention her simple joy throughout the day. And evidently, her slip in performance didn’t look so good to the new boss. She was put on probation.
She said, “eventually I thought, Lord there has got to be away around this! I need some help!”
She explained that it was either “quit, get fired, or figure out what was going on with her. ”I started talking with someone, she said, “during one of our sessions the topic of my stepfather came up.” She said “besides the way he dressed, he was actually a lot like this guy in the way he approached challenges and acted sometimes.” Well long story short she said “the day that I realized that I was projecting some “unfinished business I had with my step dad onto my knew boss, was the first day that that I actually noticed how good he was as a boss.” She said, “He is kind and fair, he listens intently when employees come with problems. And he his very committed to a job well done not only by his team but himself as well.” “He’s the perfect boss! Even if his cowboy jokes can be kind of corny sometimes.”, she said. lol!
Obviously she worked out here problems with her new boss err … stepfather. LOL!
(she is no longer on probation at work either!)
But how did it become a problem in the first place except that she didn’t know herself? Because she hadn’t recognized as yet, that she had some understanding still to do, regarding her stepfather and their relationship? Maybe knowing thyself is all we really need to do and maybe it isn’t, but can it hurt?
Where is the Self? Where is Within?
(find one and the other is probably “a stones throw away.”)
Matthew Reva
Johnny Luminati
