22 Know Yourself

“Know yourself” was inscribed in Greek ‘gnothi seauton’ on the temple of Apollo at Delphi. Knowing yourself has been a fundamental quest for every human being for thousands of years.

Who am I? Who are you? What does it mean to know yourself?

These are not simple questions. And there are many answers.

Know yourself. Know your heart, mind, will, limitations, and strengths. Know your people and listen to them when they tell you about your mistakes and your strengths. Try to see those things more clearly, to grow, and to improve on all of it. Strengthen your relationships because they are also who you are. You are a complex collection of we's. 

When we identify consistent challenges, let’s try to alter our own perspectives. Strive to open our eyes to see our blindspots. Seeing more and seeing better is such a profound victory. And then let’s press forward positively and cooperatively to problem solve our challenges with our team of people. In so many cases, life is its own reward. Our consistent patterns of seeing, thinking and acting shape our world. If we can proactively and positively improve our lenses, perspectives, thought processes, actions and relations, we will plant better seeds and harvest better rewards. 

I believe these are the fundamental benefits of knowing ourselves. Remember, this is not about navel gazing, about sitting alone in a cave to know who we are. We are not alone. We do this together. In part two we will consider how we can better know ourselves by knowing God.