Self And Society – How To Discover Yourself In Society

Why does man rebel against norms that have been there for ages and accepted as being reliable for the greater good of all? What stops him from discovering his real worth? How can he contribute to a better society and thus a better individual self? Answers to these and similar questions are found in understanding and applying the knowledge of the self in the social context i.e. self and society, which is possible to gain an insight into when one takes the time to learn and understand how to discover their own identity.

Man being a social animal needs to live in society in a certain way so that he makes his own place (also called carving a niche), can develop worthwhile relations with other human beings while living alongside them in a growing, peaceful and harmonious societal frame-work and for this reason, people need to understand each other as well as their own needs. When they fail to understand either their own needs or that of others and respect ceases to exist between them due to lack of understanding or communications, their real inner selves, purpose of their lives and their identity of self in society undergoes a negative change. This affects man’s perception and handling of his relation with his inner self as well as his relationship with society with regard to his sense of self-identity.

Scientists, sociologists and psychologists believe that each individual has 3 distinctive sides to the personality: an outer self that is projected to the world, an inner self that is hidden deep inside him and a mirror or perceived self (how he believes himself to be). When there is a conflict of realities between these 3 core aspects of a person, there is a sense of loss and confusion in the person and subsequently his dealings with society at large.

What then is most frequently known to happen is that the individual in such cases experiences a sad loss of self-identity as related to his presence in the society, which may or may not be acknowledged the way he hopes it will and thus, his path of self-development may be temporarily blocked! We say temporarily because a person also has the ability within himself to re-invent himself after studying weaknesses and strengths, working towards building a healthy sense of self-esteem through various methods such as self-talk and other higher consciousness practices so that his deceptive public self is overcome with a sense of truth and the inner, scared self, gets a chance to develop into a honest personality that he is not afraid to show – warts and all – to the outside world. With this sense of awareness, the individual can hope to find a better balance within himself and thus, in society as the sense of true energy and motivation to do right will exist in his life, bringing good things to light for him.

This is the desirable end to leading a happy, balanced and harmonious life within society as a contributing member of a value-generating society and ensuring the individual stays in touch with his inner self and his real identity always.

By: Abhishek Agarwal

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