Self-Knowledge (Essay Books)

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We are sad about particular things, but confronting them would be so arduous that we generalise and universalise the sadness. We don’t say that X or Y has made us sad; we say that everything is terrible and everyone is awful.

Society has no shortage of people and organisations offering to guide us around distant continents, but very few that will help us with the arguably far more important task of travelling around the byways of our own minds.

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.

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,

How might we still be OK, even if it all fell apart? 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.

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.

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