Know thyself: The starting point towards a better self

"Know thyself." -Socrates

If there's a need for us to change, this change we are aspiring for is change to better ourselves -- from worse to bad, from bad to good, from good to better, from better to best -- gradually. The way is self-knowledge, self-awareness -- or to "know thyself." We cannot accept something that is, to our conscious mind, non-existent yet subconsciously existent within us. Try to see if you have worse habits common within your bloodline: your immediate family and relatives. If this is so, your bloodline is suffering from an affliction brought about by the sins of your ancestors. You are carrying a certain curse passed on down from generation to generation to your own generation and on to generations following you if not broken. After self-knowledge is self-acceptance and the realization of the necessity to control our bad habits -- thus, self-control, one of the nine fruits of the Holy Spirit. When we do others good despite the ill treatment we receive from them, we are controlling the curses we have had inside of us, thus we are executing self-control. Doing good despite the ill treatment, however, is not allowing ourselves to be just "doormats" but we can be doing good like praying for them -- at a distance. Walking away is self-care on our side and lessons learned on the side of the other so they may also be taught self-control. When the other side has learned the lesson, both sides then have practiced self-control and we can be one in the same place once again. If the other person is a family or a member of a community and there's no way we can walk away, self-control is put to real test and this process spells pain which can be bearable when offered for our continued conversion and the conversions of those who ill-treated us, the lukewarm and the unconverted. Pain endured, however, will bring to fruition other spiritual gifts aside from the fruit of the Holy Spirit that we already have which is self-control. And one of the spiritual gifts that will be born within us is the breaking off of the curses passed on down to us by our ancestors. In the words of Dr. Wayne Dyer, "How people treat you is their karma; how you react is yours." Let me reword "karma" in this quote with "curse and blessing." When people ill-treated us, that is their curse; when we reacted violently, that is our own curse. When people do us good, those are their blessings; when we are the recipients of their blessings, naturally goodness begets goodness. However, I repeat, when we do others good despite the ill treatment we receive from them, we are controlling the curses we have had inside of us, thus we are executing self-control. "EVERYTHING is possible with God." It is a gradual process of trial and error. We can do it with the help of God via His Words and the Sacraments.

"How people treat you is their karma; how you react is yours." -Dr. Wayne Dyer