Self is our theme for this month’s Well? subscription.  

We want to dig into our understanding of who we are, and grow our sense of self-awareness and self-acceptance. But why is this important?  Why is understanding who I am something that can help my wellbeing?  At the start of this month we wanted to give you four reasons why we think this is an important topic. 

Knowledge is change 

The first and most important theme is that we can only really change and grow when we first accept and understand who we are.  Psychologist Carl Rogers puts it like this:

“The curious paradox is that when I accept myself just as I am, then I can change.” 

So many parts of our own health and wellbeing involve being willing to change and develop those habits which might either make us unhealthier or might improve our health.  Rogers view makes it clear that we begin that process with a knowledge and acceptance of ourselves.

Self-Knowledge is therefore change.

You are unique, and wonderful 

As we begin to understand ourselves, we might begin to notice just how wonderful we are.  We should certainly understand our uniqueness.  

Take a look at your hand and your fingerprints.  Your fingerprints are set as they are in the womb, by the time a fetus reaches 17 weeks. Fingerprint pattern formation consists of two components: developmental and genetic. The ridge pattern development not only depends on genetic factors but also on unique physical conditions. This means everyone’s fingerprints are unique.  Even identical twins (who are genetically similar) will have different fingerprints. 

This shows you’re amazing and also tells us you’re unique.  There is no one like you.

Nobody else lives like you 

As well as no-one being like you physically in certain ways, there are also unique ways that you will process information, think and react.  We do things differently and no one exactly lives like you.

This is important when we think about our health and wellbeing.  A routine or action which helps one person might not help someone else.  It’s important to form your own toolkit, something we’ve shared before at Space to Breathe.   

Honesty is life-changing 

So when we think about self-awareness and understanding ourselves – it’s wonderful to know that being honest with ourselves can be really life-changing.  

It’s hard to be honest.  But when we begin to see ourselves as we are and to see all our strengths and weaknesses in reality – then we can begin to live accordingly.

We often encourage support from others and that’s vital too – but even if it’s too much to begin to think about being honest with others, we can be honest with ourselves – and that can be life changing.

TRY THIS …

Einstein once said …

 “Once we accept our limits, we go beyond them.” 

Take some time to think about who you are who you’re not. Take some time to understand you and consider how you’d like to grow and flourish in the months ahead.