Self Changes

Staying with the theme of changes, I want to introduce some changes that are influenced by the inner Self. Recall, that in previous articles the Self was described as the center of the unconscious (hidden psychology). The Self is the psychological element that influences all parts of a person’s psychology and that assists a person find authentic meaning and direction in life.

Changes that originate from the Self can be accepted or rejected. If the changes are rejected, a person’s personal development is blocked. The meaning of a person’s life then becomes less obvious. The rejection is typically due to a person’s ego – the sense of I, or identity, that includes beliefs and values – that doesn’t want to change or doesn’t consider change important or necessary.

The Self always attempts to move a person in the direction of development and a meaningful existence. Clearly, as the years progress, development must involve changes. During the second half of life, the Self’s influences are most strongly experienced and can either be met by the ego and accepted, or rejected.

The type of changes that occur can be enormous. This is one reason why we hear people talking about midlife changes. Values and beliefs that were held as truths can turn over and become the opposite value or belief and a new truth. Understandings about life, that were considered absolutely immovable, start to become questioned and soon lose that absolute hold on a person. Most importantly, the meaning thought to define a person’s identity and life can vanish, only to be replaced by a more in-depth meaning. For example, a person who has been employed at a bank for twenty years might realize, through the influence of the Self, that her/his real meaning is associated with photography and artistic expression; or a person who never considered personal emotions or development as important might begin meditating, or begin therapy.

When a person begins experiencing changes from the Self, feelings of being more alive and energized accompany the changes.

You might ask whether changes from the Self should be accepted, if the changes don’t seem in-line with a person’s current life. As you might guess, rejecting the Self’s influence can lead to a dry and unsatisfying existence. Rejection can result in a person being argumentative, negative, unpleasant, aggressive and nasty, not to mention depressed.

So if you feel an urge for a change and are not sure where this urge is coming from or why you feel it, maybe the urge is coming from the deep Self within your psychology. If it is, then seriously considering the change certainly is worthwhile.