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I've been having this thought in my head like man, "I really take an unorthodox approach to life" So I googled that exactly, and came up with this old blog post of some guy.
Long read. Any thoughts?
UAL 19: Attitude of Self:Charles Style
11.October.2009
I come to the reader once again to convey yetanother concept not very much accepted by the masses, and that would be on theattitude in which we perceive ourselves. To start off, I would just like to usemyself as an example of this. I am very fond of myself; I absolutely love andadore myself. I feel that I am the most important person in the world and thatI am the very center of the universe. I like to take care of myself well andalways seek to better myself. To me, I am the %$@% (to put it bluntly). Nowallow me to read your mind and tell you the way you most likely perceived thisparagraph. You think that I am a completely delusional, self-centered,egoistic, narcissistic human being that has absolutely no grounds to say thesething, and if your in the minority that didn't think this, well, this shouldcome as review to you.
I shall start off by stating that being ananimal, and more specifically a human being, means that we have a nervoussystem, of which we are fortunate enough to have brains. And these brainscreate the phenomena of the mind, of which we seem to forget this relationship.We intuitively think that there is a separation of mind and body, and thus weforget how our minds work. Every bit of sensory input that you get from yourbody is processed by your brain. This means that everything that you experienceis in your brain/mind,thus our mind is a reconstruction of reality. Therefore,you are the center of your own reality, seeing as the universe is perceived byYOU. This is pretty obvious, but this justifies being self-centered. Everythingthat we are and experience is centered around us, so why not act and think inthis way? This doesn't mean that you neglect others and exploit them without aconscience, it's just accepting that you are the center of your life. Plain andsimple. There's nothing wrong with it and it's not "evil" or thelike. (In fact, concepts of "evil" are quite silly, and more on thatin a later entry) So yes, being self-centered is not immoral or wrong, simplynatural.
Now then, seeing as we observe and experiencereality in ourselves, we can start to appreciate ourselves. Humans seem to notlove themselves as much as they should. We each have a fantastic amount ofpotential in ourselves, we just don't seem to tap into it. Why? I blame a lackof self-esteem and self-love based upon insecurities and perception of control.People tend to have an external locus of control, which means that they believethat they themselves cannot change their circumstances and that all that theyexperience is a product of others' manipulations. This is evident in those whobelieve that they cannot change the world because they are only an individualin a mass of billions. They lack an internal drive, something that causes themto be passive in life and have a low self-esteem. The fact of the matter isthat all of us can change our own environments, because not only can weperceive all that is our reality, but we can influence that very same realityto our liking. An inward drive to change things or to be in control of theirreality is what every great human in history has had. When we feel that we havethe ability to influence the world, we find out that we actually CAN, and thusa boost in self-esteem occurs. This ability is great; it is amazing; it isours. This is why we should be egoistic. We can boast of ourselves because weutilize this potential to self-actualize (to become one's ideal self). So ifyou think that you have done things in your life that make you feel betterabout yourself and let yourself become the master of your own reality, thencongratulations, you have bragging rights. This is the consequence of beingegoistic.
The Path:
Realization of potential --> Thought of idealself --> Effort to actualize this self --> Self-actualization -->Renewal (continuing to a higher ideal self and maintaining past progress)--> Next stage self-actualization --> Etc.
The driving force: egoism.
Next, since you are the only guaranteed personto be with for your entire life, you should really get along with yourselfwell, so doesn't it just make sense to love yourself? I personally don't needthis reasoning, for I know that I'm an amazing human being for all of myabilities, accomplishments and way of thinking, so I just love myself based uponthat, and of course the same could be said for yourself. It's a great motivatorfor growth, too. If I hate myself, I may not even wish to help myself, becausewho helps those whom they hate? Very few, and the opposite is true for love. Ofall of the people on the planet, I love myself the most because I understandthe magnitude of what I am and can see the subtle details surrounding my lifethat I've come to appreciate quite a lot. This same appreciation is the causeto care for one's self and to make oneself grow into a creature more beautifulthan once thought possible.
Now then, it's time to address our culture'sperspective on this whole frame of thought. Negative connotations are given tothe concepts of egoism, self-centralism and the like. Let's face it people, weare humans too, and we should treat ourselves like any other human. Oursociety's "morals" say that we should be kind, supportive, loving andgiving to other humans. So why should we discriminate against ourselves? We'rehumans too. Why should "I" be any different from "you"? Whyshould I give compliments to you, while being quiet about myself? Now if I wereto give myself compliments and be kind to myself and refrain from telling youof the wonders of you, why is that different? Why is the former culturallyacceptable, while the latter example is frowned upon? There exists the samehuman beings with the same actions, but different targets. This logic that ourculture gives us is greatly flawed. We ARE amazing. The way things should be isthat I give compliments to you and me, and you the same, because we bothdeserve recognition for our greatness from the both of us. You're the %$@%, I'mthe %$@%, and we both know it and exemplify it to its end.
There is a delusion here, and it's not from thisside; it's from our culture. Our culture wants us to reinforce each otherwithout reinforcing ourselves, which does not work. We must be reinforcedwithin and without.
To conclude, I would just like to use myself asan example of these ideas. I am very fond of myself; I absolutely love andadore myself. I feel that I am the most important person in the world and thatI am the very center of the universe. I like to take care of myself well andalways seek to better myself. To me, I am the %$@%.
Remember, without me, I don't exist, so in thereality perceived by myself, which is everything to me, I'm the most importantperson in the universe.
Yours Truly,
Charles Raymond Matusky
Long read. Any thoughts?
UAL 19: Attitude of Self:Charles Style
11.October.2009
I come to the reader once again to convey yetanother concept not very much accepted by the masses, and that would be on theattitude in which we perceive ourselves. To start off, I would just like to usemyself as an example of this. I am very fond of myself; I absolutely love andadore myself. I feel that I am the most important person in the world and thatI am the very center of the universe. I like to take care of myself well andalways seek to better myself. To me, I am the %$@% (to put it bluntly). Nowallow me to read your mind and tell you the way you most likely perceived thisparagraph. You think that I am a completely delusional, self-centered,egoistic, narcissistic human being that has absolutely no grounds to say thesething, and if your in the minority that didn't think this, well, this shouldcome as review to you.
I shall start off by stating that being ananimal, and more specifically a human being, means that we have a nervoussystem, of which we are fortunate enough to have brains. And these brainscreate the phenomena of the mind, of which we seem to forget this relationship.We intuitively think that there is a separation of mind and body, and thus weforget how our minds work. Every bit of sensory input that you get from yourbody is processed by your brain. This means that everything that you experienceis in your brain/mind,thus our mind is a reconstruction of reality. Therefore,you are the center of your own reality, seeing as the universe is perceived byYOU. This is pretty obvious, but this justifies being self-centered. Everythingthat we are and experience is centered around us, so why not act and think inthis way? This doesn't mean that you neglect others and exploit them without aconscience, it's just accepting that you are the center of your life. Plain andsimple. There's nothing wrong with it and it's not "evil" or thelike. (In fact, concepts of "evil" are quite silly, and more on thatin a later entry) So yes, being self-centered is not immoral or wrong, simplynatural.
Now then, seeing as we observe and experiencereality in ourselves, we can start to appreciate ourselves. Humans seem to notlove themselves as much as they should. We each have a fantastic amount ofpotential in ourselves, we just don't seem to tap into it. Why? I blame a lackof self-esteem and self-love based upon insecurities and perception of control.People tend to have an external locus of control, which means that they believethat they themselves cannot change their circumstances and that all that theyexperience is a product of others' manipulations. This is evident in those whobelieve that they cannot change the world because they are only an individualin a mass of billions. They lack an internal drive, something that causes themto be passive in life and have a low self-esteem. The fact of the matter isthat all of us can change our own environments, because not only can weperceive all that is our reality, but we can influence that very same realityto our liking. An inward drive to change things or to be in control of theirreality is what every great human in history has had. When we feel that we havethe ability to influence the world, we find out that we actually CAN, and thusa boost in self-esteem occurs. This ability is great; it is amazing; it isours. This is why we should be egoistic. We can boast of ourselves because weutilize this potential to self-actualize (to become one's ideal self). So ifyou think that you have done things in your life that make you feel betterabout yourself and let yourself become the master of your own reality, thencongratulations, you have bragging rights. This is the consequence of beingegoistic.
The Path:
Realization of potential --> Thought of idealself --> Effort to actualize this self --> Self-actualization -->Renewal (continuing to a higher ideal self and maintaining past progress)--> Next stage self-actualization --> Etc.
The driving force: egoism.
Next, since you are the only guaranteed personto be with for your entire life, you should really get along with yourselfwell, so doesn't it just make sense to love yourself? I personally don't needthis reasoning, for I know that I'm an amazing human being for all of myabilities, accomplishments and way of thinking, so I just love myself based uponthat, and of course the same could be said for yourself. It's a great motivatorfor growth, too. If I hate myself, I may not even wish to help myself, becausewho helps those whom they hate? Very few, and the opposite is true for love. Ofall of the people on the planet, I love myself the most because I understandthe magnitude of what I am and can see the subtle details surrounding my lifethat I've come to appreciate quite a lot. This same appreciation is the causeto care for one's self and to make oneself grow into a creature more beautifulthan once thought possible.
Now then, it's time to address our culture'sperspective on this whole frame of thought. Negative connotations are given tothe concepts of egoism, self-centralism and the like. Let's face it people, weare humans too, and we should treat ourselves like any other human. Oursociety's "morals" say that we should be kind, supportive, loving andgiving to other humans. So why should we discriminate against ourselves? We'rehumans too. Why should "I" be any different from "you"? Whyshould I give compliments to you, while being quiet about myself? Now if I wereto give myself compliments and be kind to myself and refrain from telling youof the wonders of you, why is that different? Why is the former culturallyacceptable, while the latter example is frowned upon? There exists the samehuman beings with the same actions, but different targets. This logic that ourculture gives us is greatly flawed. We ARE amazing. The way things should be isthat I give compliments to you and me, and you the same, because we bothdeserve recognition for our greatness from the both of us. You're the %$@%, I'mthe %$@%, and we both know it and exemplify it to its end.
There is a delusion here, and it's not from thisside; it's from our culture. Our culture wants us to reinforce each otherwithout reinforcing ourselves, which does not work. We must be reinforcedwithin and without.
To conclude, I would just like to use myself asan example of these ideas. I am very fond of myself; I absolutely love andadore myself. I feel that I am the most important person in the world and thatI am the very center of the universe. I like to take care of myself well andalways seek to better myself. To me, I am the %$@%.
Remember, without me, I don't exist, so in thereality perceived by myself, which is everything to me, I'm the most importantperson in the universe.
Yours Truly,
Charles Raymond Matusky
