Understanding The Essence Of Your Inner Self And Potential

It’s not magic or a miracle, but at times understanding the essence of your inner self feels impossible. However, it is crucial that you make the effort to grasp the meaning of your inner essence in order to obtain your full potential and live an abundantly happy life.

This isn’t just a bunch of nice words thrown together, but a crucial need that if left undefined and unexplored will rob you of success, love, happiness and pure joy.

The Definitions

First, let’s make sure that you understand what your essence and self really mean.

Definition of essence:
the basic nature of a thing; the quality or qualities that make a thing what it is

Synonyms:
being (the most important or basic part of a person’s mind or self)
essentiality (essential nature; an essential quality, property, or aspect)
nature (the way that a person behaves; the character or personality of a person)
quiddity (whatever makes something the type that it is )
quintessence (the essence of a thing in its purest and most concentrated form),
soul (the spiritual part of a person that is believed to give life to the body and in many religions is believed to live forever)

Definition of self:
the person that someone normally or truly is; the personality or character that makes a person different from other people; the combination of emotions, thoughts, feelings, etc., that make a person different from others

You are a living organism with a pure concentrated combination of emotions, thoughts and feelings that make you recognizably unique, valuable, special, and priceless since you are a one-of-a-kind human being.

Maybe I should say that again.

You are a living organism with a pure concentrated combination of emotions, thoughts and feelings that make you recognizably unique, valuable, special, and priceless because you are a one-of-a-kind human being.

Do you like yourself?

Heck, do you even know yourself?

Who Are You?

Most people have a bunch of different selves that they portray while they are at church, in the grocery store, at a musical concert, with their family and at work. That’s fine, but I’m not sure how you all keep them straight because I’m pretty much the same no matter where I go.

So when you are all alone, who are you?

Do you know THAT person?

Do you like and love THAT person?

When you are all alone, THAT person is the essence of your inner self.

It is mandatory that you not only know who and what the essence of your inner self comprises, but you also need to like and love that person. Yes, I’m talking about feelings.

I know a lot of people, men in particular, don’t like to talk about touchy feely stuff, but at times it is necessary to talk about feelings. Talking about them and taking the time to be aware of your feelings is crucial in understanding them.

“The more clearly you understand yourself and your emotions, the more you become a lover of what is.”~ Baruch Spinoza ~

Now some of you know all about the essence of your inner self, but you are always trying to run away from it. So now I’m talking to you. Yes, I’m talking to all the self-runaways.

You can’t run away from yourself and if you think you did, you will soon find out that you really didn’t get away from yourself. You are going to be with your inner self no matter where you go or what you do. Since you’re pretty much stuck, you might as well make the best of it!

“Wherever you go, there you are.”~ Thomas à Kempis ~

What Are You Thinking?

The mind is a powerful organ. Whatever and whoever you think you are…that’s exactly what and who you will be.

I remember sitting in therapy one day and I said something negative about myself. The therapist immediately said, “Now you must say three positive things about yourself to counteract the negative thing you just said and to boost your thinking into positiveness.”

“Oh hooey,” I thought to myself.

Every time that I said something negative about myself during a therapy session, I had to then think of three totally different positive things that I hadn’t already named about myself. It didn’t take too many times of repeating this scenario for me to learn not to speak negatively about myself while I was in therapy. Have you ever had to think of fifteen positive things about yourself in a fifty minute time period? Well, it wasn’t easy for me!

What you speak about yourself becomes your reality.

What you speak about yourself becomes your reality.

What you speak about yourself becomes your reality.

No, that wasn’t a typo. I wrote it three times. That sentence is VERY POWERFUL.

Your words change your thoughts and in turn change your life.

What you speak about yourself becomes your reality.

Your mind will believe what you tell it. So if you feed it negative thoughts, that’s what it is going to act upon. However if you feed it positive thoughts, that’s what it is going to act upon. You will convince yourself to believe whatever you tell yourself even if what you’re speaking isn’t true.

“The energy of the mind is the essence of life.”~ Aristotle ~

How Can You Become Great?

You are already great. Not only are you great, but you are awesomely wonderful.

Seriously.

I am speaking the truth.

“You were born with potential. You were born with goodness and trust. You were born with ideals and dreams. You were born with greatness. You were born with wings. You are not meant for crawling, so don’t. You have wings. Learn to use them and fly.”~ Rumi ~

You might be thinking, “I’ve made so many mistakes and fallen short of what I could accomplish. Now it is too late. I am NOT great.”

First, you’re wrong.

Second, now that you said a negative about yourself by saying you are not great, you now must say three positives to counteract the negative effect you just imposed on your brain and soul. Let’s get that out of the way.

1. You are great at reading. I know this is true because you enjoy reading and I know that’s true or you wouldn’t be reading my writing.
2. You are intelligent. Not only can you read and comprehend what I’m writing, but you are either reading it on the computer or your telephone, so you know how to work a very technical piece of equipment.
3. You are lovable. I don’t know who loves you, but I’m sure there are many people who love you.

Okay, don’t say anything else negative.

Now back to my original thought. You are already great and everything you need to reach your full potential is within you. The secret of reaching your full potential is that you must be determined to succeed and willing to give up all the comfortable negative habits you have accumulated.

There’s the hard part. Giving up the “comfortable negative habits” that you cling to for a myriad of reasons. But in order to be the best you possible, it is necessary to slough off the comfortable negative habits like a snake sloughs off his old skin.

“What I’m looking for is not out there, it is in me.” ~ Helen Keller ~

Obviously I’m not just making all this stuff up because all of the quotes cited prove what I’m telling you is truth and I’m not the only one that knows it.

Deep inside you know who you are and what you have become because of all your mistakes and successes. Each moment of the day you choose to either advance your happiness or to let joy slip through your fingers without being realized.

When you nourish your essence, the raw energy you radiate can be felt and is often contagious. It draws people closer because although they don’t know exactly why they want to be around you, they do know that they feel happier, more motivated and energized when they are with you.

How To Find Your Essence

What would you do if you didn’t fear failure or being ridiculed?

What activities make you feel energized and excited?

In order to get to know yourself and be in touch with the essence of your inner self, you have to consciously seek the truth of you. You will not feel contented or happy until you know yourself and are actively progressing and improving.

Depriving yourself of new activities and experiences will bring discontent and a restless soul. Where there is boredom, there is unhappiness and it is during those times that you usually make bad choices.

Avoid stagnation like the plague.

Ask yourself, “If I knew I wouldn’t fail or be ridiculed, I would _________________________________.”

What would you do?

Well, THAT is what you should be doing!

Start each day in gratitude. By focusing on the positives that are already in your life and already developed in your inner self, it is easier to believe that you can continue to learn, improve and succeed. Those positive feelings of hope will immediately cause your mind to send out endorphins which will generate happiness in your soul.

Hopeful feelings and a happy soul bring about a positive attitude and a stronger sense of self-worth and accomplishment.

You are what you think you are, so make sure you are thinking good thoughts!

The essence of your inner self is good and craves excellence and knowledge. Understanding your personal uniqueness will help you excel at being you and reaching your full potential.

Make good choices and concentrate on positive thoughts and actions.

Let go of negativism and bad habits. Start fresh like the sun does each morning when it peeps over the horizon and bids us all a good morning.

The essence of your inner self will constantly change, so understanding your essence will require staying open and in touch with yourself. Through meditation and quiet time spent thinking, examining and exploring where you were, where you are and where you would like to go, life’s options will be more clear to you. Success will not be elusive.

Your unique essence is one-of-a-kind and only you can totally understand everything that makes you…you.

I guess in a way that does make the essence of your inner self a magical miracle.

That’s just so awesome.

Yeah, awesome like you!