You’d Like to Get to Know You? “Know thyself” is an aphorism that originated among the ancient Greeks. Inscribed on the Temple of Apollo at Delphi, the maxim figures prominently in Greek literature, especially the writings of the philosopher Plato and his teacher Socrates.
It is from Plato’s writings that we learn Socrates’s quote: “The unexamined life is not worth living.” The pursuit of our life’s destiny is how we discover who we really are.
It is in the pursuit of Destiny that you discover what a fascinating person you are. You discover that you are an amazing and unique creation of God.
As you get to know yourself, you find out some things you want to change, but you will also discover some things you like.
Self-discovery can be a deeply rewarding life process, as you learn to embrace truths that others told you about yourself and release the lies that beat down your self-esteem.
You may learn that Aunt Kaye was right when she said you had a knack for getting at the real issue in a conflict. Maybe Destiny is calling you to be a mediator, a negotiator, an attorney, or a judge.
You may also discover that some hurtful words said about you were untrue—the parent who called you dumb or the teacher who said you didn’t have the aptitude to go to college.
Get to know you. Knowing you may mean discovering that while everyone thought you were moody and cranky, you’re really an introvert who just needs a little time away from people to regenerate your internal energy.
Or maybe you’re an extrovert who was accused of having ants in your pants because you couldn’t seem to keep still.
You craved the connection with other human beings. Getting to know who you really are means you equip yourself to take care of you in the ways that help you become your best self.
When you get to know you, your likes and dislikes, your passions and your plans, your motivators and your downers become evident.
Knowing you means you simultaneously learn what it takes to inspire you to Destiny. It’s a disclosure that happens quickly for some and more slowly for others.
Some people move toward Destiny like shooting stars while others are late bloomers, but it is a lifelong unfolding.
Some seem to be born knowing who they are and what they are destined to contribute, while others stumble from one life post to another, trying to figure out what they want to be when they grow up.
Some people overcome incredible odds and pass through hell and high water to meet up with Destiny. Others are given every economic, educational, and social advantage yet slip into an abyss of unproductivity. It all comes down to one thing: know thyself.
People who grew up in poverty may have to learn who they are apart from an environment filled with street-corner drug deals, substandard housing, high incarceration rates, high teen pregnancy rates, and low expectations.
If you grew up this way, your environment may tell you that you are destined to sell drugs, but actually, you love to write science fiction.
Get in touch with the real you so that you can see your higher self and realize your ability to distance from the negative realities of a dysfunctional upbringing.
If you grew up poor, take time to get to know your higher self, the one who has Destiny that does not include incarceration, drugs, and unplanned pregnancy. Distinguish your true self from the environment where you grew up.
You have to know yourself to live the authentic life that Destiny offers you. Otherwise, you can have outward success and not fully experience the fruit of your accomplishments.
You can be a self-made millionaire who runs a company and wears thousand-dollar suits but still see yourself as that little girl who was made fun of at school for wearing thrift-store clothes.
You may still be living like the little boy whose parent never had money to give him for extracurricular activities at school.
You were never to be defined by those circumstances. That was where you lived, not who you are.
You can graduate at the top of your class at Harvard yet still doubt whether you are successful because your father never affirmed or encouraged your accomplishments.
No matter what kind of upbringing or past experiences you had, you can benefit from distinguishing your past from your authentic self.
You can learn from it and distance yourself from it in a healthy way. You may have been raised by parents who held conservative religious or political values that you do not share.
Acknowledge the positive values they gave you, and then embrace the values that represent you, that support you, and that help steer you toward Destiny.
You can’t deny where you came from, but you can learn from it, grow from it, and build upon it to take you higher.
How we were raised, where we went to school, and our social and economic experiences have a tremendous impact on us.
Along the road to Destiny, you have to give yourself reality checks so the you that you know catches up to the you that you have become.
J.K. Rowling, author of the phenomenally successful Harry Potter series, was once clinically depressed and living on welfare in Scotland.
She shared in an interview with Oprah Winfrey that she was still striving to know herself.
It had been many years since she fought to scrape together sustenance for her and her child, but the struggling single mother she knew so well still held the power to overtake the billionaire author she has become.
She recalled trying to finish the last Potter book in the series of seven. Children, family pets, and service workers had taken over the household and were breaking her concentration.
At that point she connected with her new truth that she could afford to travel anywhere she wanted to complete the book.
In her early years, she did her writing in local cafés, mostly because they were warmer than her cold apartment and sitting there didn’t cost her any money.
The single mother had to catch up to the billionaire to realize that she could afford to pay for a hotel for as long as she needed one. Her mind told her she still needed to watch every penny.
“Know thyself” doesn’t apply only in moving from poverty to wealth. A person who grows up wealthy may be inflexible in situations where humility is their requisite for elevation to Destiny.
The person who has always had financial abundance to address a problem may not be aware that there are some places money cannot take you and some situations that money cannot buy you into or out of.
Wealth can lure you into a sense of entitlement that may hinder the arrival of Destiny, which cannot be bought. Destiny can take you to places where money is insufficient to give you entrance.
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