'Know thy self'


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Know thy self - How can you?
What it takes to know oneself? Reflection, feedback and a great dose of patience (the mother of all virtues) to balance the learning process that defines life. So, whereas I can exert some control over my well-being, my quality of life is heavily influence by my age, my culture, my health and my values and how much I can control them.
Factors that may constitute a cumulative risk in my life (Jenson & Fraser, 2015) have been controlled by my determination to cherish memories that feed my soul and to pay attention to what does me harm. That said, I do not pay heed to insults and leave gossip out of my attention radar. I maintain a brisk exercise routine for it gives my body the jolt it needs to face the challenges and I eliminated cable TV from my life. Now I am the one that exerts the choice of what, when and how to have pleasure out of a screen (with the help of Netflix).
I also respect my circadian phenotype – I am a true ‘lark’(Golombek & Cardinali, 2008) and I keep the hours of waking and sleeping regular to steer away from tiredness, poor vigilance and judgment (Foster, 2013). To aid me in that crusade, I make use of kog, a great app that doesn't let me forget nor postpone the important deeds of my daily life.  To keep me in shipshape for all there is to be done and learned, I adopt a balanced diet that avoids meat and allows for fish occasionally. It is by feeding my inner self that I can gauge and improve the quality of my interactions with the outer world that I relate to and develop with.
What about you - what do you do to know your limitations and possibilities? And how does that knowledge allow you a better life?
References
Jenson, J. M., & Fraser, M. W. (Eds.). (2015). Social policy for children and families: A risk and resilience perspective (Links to an external site.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications. 
Golombek, D.A. & Cardinali, D.P. (2008). Mind, brain, education, and biological timing.  Mind, Brain, and Education, 2(1), 1-6.

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