Self-Knowledge (Essay Books)

Philosophical Meditation, a practice with the premise that a decisive share of the trouble in our minds comes from thoughts and feelings that have not been untangled, examined and confronted with sufficient attention.

Denigration We tell ourselves that we simply don’t care about something – love or politics, career success or intellectual life, that beautiful student or the house we can’t afford. And we are very emphatic about our lack of interest and disdain. We go to great lengths to make it clear to others and ourselves how absolutely unconcerned we are. Ther

If we have sizeable reserves of self-love, we might feel we can afford to admit mistakes and still believe in our basic decency. Yet if our self-love is very fragile, no admission of guilt or error is ever possible; it would sap the last of our limited self-regard.

Emotional Identity Questionnaire Give a score to each of the statements below, on a scale from 1 to 5: 1 = That’s not true. 2 = That’s not very true, but there’s a glimmer of recognition. 3 = I don’t know – maybe, maybe not. 4 = A bit true, but I have a few reservations. 5 = Yes, that’s true. Self-Love 1. If people knew who I really was deep down,

Our overall nervousness declines when our anxieties are systematically laid out and examined.

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Most so-called ‘addictions’ are at heart symptoms of insistent difficult feelings that we haven’t found a way to address. Insomnia is revenge for thoughts we have refused to have in the day.

– What am I presently anxious about? – What am I presently upset about? – What am I presently excited about?

Distraction or addiction We identify something that can very effectively keep our thoughts away from troubling inner confrontations. Online pornography is a favourite, the news another, alcohol a third, work a fourth. We don’t so much like these elements in and of themselves; we like them for their ability to keep us away from what we fear.

Entertaining the most extreme consequences can be the best way to finally neuter an otherwise nagging concern. One by one, we should confront the worst, and see that it is, for the most part, very survivable.