Understanding Self and Others
What is life but constant discovery? We realize that our being turns becoming over time. The process of self-discovery demands intention; it must not be taken for granted. Self-awareness makes you actively seek changes and apply necessary improvements. It opens you to criticisms and prompts growth and development. But it is not an easy feat because just like any other skill, self-awareness requires practice.
We experience changes physically during our puberty. We realize the manifestations as we grow older, but more than the changing body, our mind also starts to mature. Although ‘age doesn’t define maturity’, it surely gives you more experience in life. And with experience, we get to learn new things, unlearn the old ones, and relearn what we might have forgotten. For one, being National Service Training Programsocial creatures, our lives are associated with other people. We live with and through others. That is why it is not only important that we understand ourselves but others as well for understanding self and others is where we can find our purpose.
Philosophers in Plato’s time and of today had contemplated our being. Human psychology was established and is continuously developed or discovered upon new studies and changes. We’re now able to describe, if not measure, our “being” through personality tests. We’ve constructed codes that turned into symbolic categories which aid us in understanding humanity. Over time, these tests have become reflective of our lived experiences hence their popular acceptance. Given the criticisms of such evaluations, I still believe in the merits of such ‘tools.’
Learning about my personality through self-examination reaffirms the belief I held about myself and reveals, if not explains, the belief of other people about me. It is interesting as it interrogates. It is illuminating as it is surprising. But aside from the realizations I learned from the personality tests, it is also equally important that I realize the role or potential I have when I am able to understand others, and how understanding them can actually serve greater purposes to both individual and collective development.
As we understand our roles in society, we take a step closer to building a better one – one that is more responsible, just, and equal. We get to recognize our strengths and weaknesses and acknowledge the help that we can give to or take from others. But being aware is not enough if we wouldn’t act upon the issues of self and concerns faced by the community. Knowledge may be power, but it’s the action that does matter. Self-awareness shall not only expose our truths; it shall also shape them by changing how we live that is not selfish or conceited but a life that aspires for a greater good by serving other people.
We experience changes physically during our puberty. We realize the manifestations as we grow older, but more than the changing body, our mind also starts to mature. Although ‘age doesn’t define maturity’, it surely gives you more experience in life. And with experience, we get to learn new things, unlearn the old ones, and relearn what we might have forgotten. For one, being National Service Training Programsocial creatures, our lives are associated with other people. We live with and through others. That is why it is not only important that we understand ourselves but others as well for understanding self and others is where we can find our purpose.
Philosophers in Plato’s time and of today had contemplated our being. Human psychology was established and is continuously developed or discovered upon new studies and changes. We’re now able to describe, if not measure, our “being” through personality tests. We’ve constructed codes that turned into symbolic categories which aid us in understanding humanity. Over time, these tests have become reflective of our lived experiences hence their popular acceptance. Given the criticisms of such evaluations, I still believe in the merits of such ‘tools.’
Learning about my personality through self-examination reaffirms the belief I held about myself and reveals, if not explains, the belief of other people about me. It is interesting as it interrogates. It is illuminating as it is surprising. But aside from the realizations I learned from the personality tests, it is also equally important that I realize the role or potential I have when I am able to understand others, and how understanding them can actually serve greater purposes to both individual and collective development.
As we understand our roles in society, we take a step closer to building a better one – one that is more responsible, just, and equal. We get to recognize our strengths and weaknesses and acknowledge the help that we can give to or take from others. But being aware is not enough if we wouldn’t act upon the issues of self and concerns faced by the community. Knowledge may be power, but it’s the action that does matter. Self-awareness shall not only expose our truths; it shall also shape them by changing how we live that is not selfish or conceited but a life that aspires for a greater good by serving other people.
13 October 2021
National Service Training Program
National Service Training Program
MODULE: Understanding Self and Others
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