Pathwalking 29
I want to be a better person.
Yes, I want to be a better son, better boyfriend, better friend, better worker, better person in the eyes of society. But in order to achieve that, I need to do right by myself.
Why do I want to be a better person? Because while the person I am is pretty awesome, there is still room for improvement. And in becoming a better person, I will learn to love myself better. And not in an unhealthy, selfish way – but in a healthy, confidence building, smarter speaking, positive energy emitting way.
In wanting to be a better person, I need to identify my weaknesses, and figure out why they are weaknesses…and how to resolve them, and find strength.
I do not believe anything is impossible. I have seen too many things happen in this world to believe that. Improbable, maybe…but I think with the right thought, the right focus, the right action…even the improbable can happen. So along this particular line – I think any weakness I find in myself can be repaired, and turned around into a strength.
I seek happiness in my life. I want to experience joy, and I want great things for myself, and for those I care about. This is why I have chosen to walk my own path. Over the last half a year of doing this, one of the most important things I have learned is that I am a worthwhile individual. And that is of far greater importance for everyone than anyone seems to want to acknowledge.
It is very easy to be disempowered. It takes no effort to let outside forces judge your value, and your worth. And once that judgment has been made, it takes very little to let that become our opinion about ourselves.
In order to take the idea of being a better person into action, there needs to be an examination of what I can improve upon. What do I need to do better with, or be better about?
I think we all have gotten away from looking inside ourselves. It is so easy to focus on the outside world, its problems, its pleasures, its distractions…and as such, to lose sight of ourselves. And when we do not look inside of ourselves and see who we are, we often develop the belief that action is required in order to ‘be a better person’.
The first step is to look at who I am. Do I know myself? Do I know what I like about myself? Do I know what I dislike about myself? What do I need or want to change about who I am? How do I go about changing it?
Five questions. Each is fairly simple…and yet impossibly complicated. Each question implies work. Study. Possibly even struggle. Each of these questions requires effort. But without answering these questions, how can I know if I need to be “better”?
I have often said that ‘nothing worth having is ever easy’. We place value in complexity, which is not always the healthiest of approaches. Yes, there are five questions I need to ask in order to make improvements I want to make in who I am…but the answers could be simple. The asking is the hard part.
A lot of people make this statement: “I want to be a better person.” It’s the focus of whole books, TV programs, internet forums and films. We see another tackle something fearsome or complex or otherwise difficult, and we root for their success. And then we move on.
But this is not just the product of fiction. We are all capable of making things in our lives happen. If you want to be a better person, starting with asking those five questions is one way to do it. The answers will give you what you need to make it happen.
Society today has a tremendous amount of fear base. And some people argue that asking questions is not good, and we should all follow along in the status quo. I utterly disagree with this. Asking questions is the only way we can learn, and grow, and truly experience the wonders of life and the world around us.
Sometimes the questions raise more questions. Sometimes we get answers we dislike. But if you want to be a better person, and help yourself and the world around you, asking questions is the only way to achieve this.
I am not afraid of these questions. Do I know myself? Yes, but there is room to know myself better. Do I know what I like about myself? Yes. Do I know what I dislike about myself? Yes. What do I need or want to change about who I am? One thing is that I need to learn to value my own gut instincts, and to feel more. How do I go about changing it? Meditate, be grateful for what I have, reach out with my feelings and not let the skeptical voices in my head and outside of me influence who I am.
In walking the path, I have to ask and answer these questions regularly, to find my way.
I have asked, answered, and shared. Not because I NEED to share this – but because I want to share it. I want to show you that there is nothing to be afraid of in asking and answering questions.
You won’t have the same answers, and you don’t need to share your answers with anyone. But if you fall into the “I want to be a better person” category, this is an outstanding starting point.
In my efforts to be a better person, I want to help anyone willing to come along in the same journey. I want to help you, even if I don’t know you – because we are not alone, and MY path is more fulfilling when I can share the experience.
Are YOU able to ask and answer these questions?
This is the twenty-ninth entry in my series. These weekly posts are specifically about walking along the path of life, and my desire to make a difference in this world along the way. Thank you for joining me.
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