In a recent discussion someone asked why should we bother over things such as trying to know ourselves better? In turn he was asked, what is more important in life than attaining self-knowledge, knowing oneself? I could not agree more.
Yes, there are many things in life to devote oneself to, such as getting an education, having a career and earning a decent salary, raising a family and hopefully being a person of some use to society. As a matter of fact, I’m sure for a lot of people simply trying to get by in a highly competitive and challenging world, is already a difficult enough task they have to face in their lives without having to ask a question whose answer is as elusive as the question itself.
But the question must be asked. ‘Who am I’ and ‘Why am I in this world?’ Questions whose answers would lead one to the quest of finding one self and achieving self-knowledge. Without pausing to ask these fundamental questions about our existence, life could only be shallow, lived on the superficial level, like taking part in a school play and yet not knowing what role you have to play.
Worse. You don’t even realise you’re in a play, thinking that the role is your true self. That the play on the stage is your life. You have no idea who you really are, let alone who the author of the drama is. Stay on the stage long enough, sooner or later you will feel that there is something incomplete about your character, something odd and aimless, something missing.