Throughout the ages wise people have taught individuals and society to know thyself. This sounds like simple advice. It seems that since individuals are the only ones who really know what they’re thinking they would have no problem knowing themselves. Yet individuals constantly misjudge themselves. I don’t think we are deliberately deceiving ourselves, but instead rationalizing rewarding behavior. If we are to move past rationalization we need to engage inward and examine our motives and beliefs.
We need to pay attention to our thoughts and behavior with attention towards our strengths and weaknesses. It’s best to find a way to use our strengths that will not only benefit ourselves but also society. While building on our strengths we need to be aware of our weaknesses.
Self examination requires searching to the darkest corners of our souls. It requires taking an honest and deep moral and emotional inventory of our most private selves. We must admit to ourselves our shortcomings and flaws. After we’re aware of our flaws we need to accept that they’re part of who we are. Next, we need to make some tough decisions. Are we going to work at changing who we are, or will we accept our flaws without trying to change?
Once we have identified a weakness we can work at improving that area of our life or accept our shortcoming. First we must identify the problem area. After we know of a problem how much effort are we willing to put into improving it?
If we know a particular weakness is part of our personality it may be best bypass the problem by supplementing the environment. Some may think of this as a temporary fix. However, environmental supplementations may provide a genuine solution that lasts a lifetime. Environmental control is achieved by arranging the environment in a way that supports the individual and balances their shortcomings.
If we pay attention we’ll see that certain personalities have certain strengths and weaknesses. Understanding personal strengths and weakness is another life lesson we can learn from dog training. An experienced dog trainer will not waste time working with a dog that’s ill suited for a particular task. Sure we can teach a dog with little aptitude to perform the task. Although we can teach most dogs to perform most tasks, the performance of a dog without talent will always be under what’s desired.
People too can be taught to do most tasks, but not necessarily at the same level. Fortunately we live in a time when it’s possible to specialize in an area where we have talent. There are others who possess talent we don’t have and they can help supplement areas that are not our strengths.
There are three phase in today’s meditation. I have only touched on the first one.
For those who want to go through the 49 days of personal improvement and who are not enrolled in the Dog Days of Summer course please contact me. In the coming months I plan to offer this program as an online course with open enrollment
Wishing you the best in dogs and I life,
Andrew Ledford