It's often been claimed we have a herd mentality; we're too quick to follow without question; we're too willing to choose compliance to avoid conflict.
Doubtless there are times in our lives when such criticisms ring true. It's at such times that it becomes essential we reconnect with our true selves.
It's our essential being - our true and distinctive self - that makes us different to everyone else. Our self is different to anyone else's self.
Every individual is important. Denying the truth doesn't diminish the truth, it merely helps sustain the doubters.
There will always be doubters who are keen to damage that which they fail to understand.
Therefore it's vitally important that the individual not only recognises but appreciates their sense of self.
It's very much a personal quest. There are three people we must recognise and understand before we can fully appreciate those around us - me, myself and I.
A lot of people spend a lot of time attempting to discover their reason for being. They expend a lot of emotional and physical energy on the question of "why'' while overlooking the far more important "I''.
The "why'' will take care of itself. It's up to the individual to take care of the "I''. The "why'' is retrospective; the "I'' is introspective. One is beyond control, the other within reach.
- Gary Bentley is a Rural Aid counsellor
