Surety Brings Ruin

“For many have but one resource to sustain them in their misery, and that is to think, “Circumstances have been against me, I was worthy to be something much better than I have been. I admit I have never had a great love or a great friendship; but that is because I never met a man or a woman who were worthy of it; if I have not written any very good books, it is because I had not the leisure to do so; or, if I have had no children to whom I could devote myself it is because I did not find the man I could have lived with. So there remains within me a wide range of abilities, inclinations and potentialities, unused but perfectly viable, which endow me with a worthiness that could never be inferred from the mere history of my actions.” But in reality and for the existentialist, there is no love apart from the deeds of love; no potentiality of love other than that which is manifested in loving; there is no genius other than that which is expressed in works of art.”

― Jean-Paul Sartre, Existentialism is a Humanism

There are a total of 147 inscriptions (called Delphic Maxims) at the Temple of Apollo at Delphi. Out of these inscriptions, there is one at the forecourt which has been quoted by numerous great thinkers throughout history. γνῶθι σεαυτόν

Know Thyself

Xenophon and Plato both had their teacher, Socrates, use this maxim a number of times. To know oneself one must learn where the beginning, middle and end of the self is, right?

Or at least decide whether there is a beginning and end to it all, at least.

We are told we can be anything we set our minds to be.

We are also told we can't just be something by wanting it, we have to work for it.

As always, truth lies somewhere within the middle if you ask me.

We are anything we could possibly choose to be, and yet who we believe ourselves to be only has a tangible effect on the world depending on how deeply rooted that belief stands.

We are defined by our beliefs, which take the form of actions.

We are an accumulation of atoms, synthetized from cosmic energy from an explosion deep in space.

We are but a Soul within a mortal body, pilgrimaging through this journey of life to find the core of our essence.

We are tellers and listeners; readers and writers; sellers and buyers; mothers, fathers, sister and brothers; we are villains and heroes; bullies and sufferers.

We take on many roles, yet we stand firmly in our beliefs.

Some lay firmly on their beliefs until they don't, and are defined as hypocrites.

Some lay firmly on them, and think themselves not yet good enough for it, and are thought of as humble.

We define ourselves as much as we allow ourselves to be defined by others.

We seek therapists to help us find the root cause of our faults, and to build a path to a healthier future.

We define our beginning, act upon our present and hope for a better future.

Somewhere in between this, we lose ourselves to causes and definitions and forget to be there for one another, and to be there for oneself.

We forget to be caring and understanding enough to be able to say "I have no clue what I am doing, why I'm doing any of the things I do, or where I am going, and that's fine. I am content."

We stress on the definition of our being, to exert tension in our present, to propel ourselves onto a more successful future.

But how do we measure this success?

Is it the number next to the dollar sign?

The amount of people that surrounds us with love? The quality in which those around us fill us with love?

Is it money? Friends?

Is it those few moments of repose where there is no present, nor future, and there is just the now?

I wish I could say, but I don't know.

All I know, is that every now and then I catch myself laughing with a friend, or a stranger, or a loved one, and think "I wish it could be like this always."

I understand the need to have two opposing forces in nature defining each other and living off one another.

Love and hate.

Sorrow and happiness.

We understand one is just as crucial to understand the other.

But why is that? I catch myself laughing, forgetting there ever was a sorrow to begin with, and wish it could always be so.

To be aware of these shortcomings should be enough to propel me into a more successful future with more moments like that.

So, why can't or hasn't it been so?