How do you know what you know?
Growing up, we were conditioned to our environment, the social settings and the people and friends we associated with, besides the family members -close and far- that surrounded us and influenced our ideas and values. Other institutions such as schools, religious leaders and media, all that shaped our belief system and view of the world and enabled us to build lots of knowledge and eventually certainties.
When it comes to our perspective on ourselves, believing what we can and can’t do, what are we capable or incapable of BEING is often something we become certain of and seldom STOP and revisit this certainty. We tend to firmly believe -whatever we believe about ourselves- and hold on to them very strongly without holding the mirror once in a while and questioning. When was the last time you stopped and reflected on your own capabilities? How do you know what you know about yourself?
Now take a moment and reflect on these questions with a bit of depth.
With a particular emphasis on interpretive voices: Whose voices do you hear most frequently or significantly? Which voices are amplified, and why? Which voices are marginalized, and why?
It’s quite often that many of those voices we hear that tell us what we can or can’t do and we are neither coming from within nor an objective proper assessment of our capabilities. On the contrary, those voices are often other people’s own projection on us, they come from without and aren’t objective.
Are those voices encouraging you to push your limits? or perhaps are guiding you to find your path? or are they pushing you down telling you this is beyond your reach?
The more you hold the mirror in from of yourself, question your certainties and reflect on the voices you hear that’s telling you who you are, the higher quality of self-realization and attainment you will be able to embrace and flourish.
