Temet Nosce 2

Sometimes we hang on simply because we're scared. Sometimes the fear of not knowing keeps us in a worse state of being.

Sometimes we know what'll happen when we let go. Sometimes the path of recovery is scarier than the damage caused by stagnation.

And sometimes we settle because we know that we don't have it in us to be brave. Not at the present moment, anyway...

...until we get a glimpse of what life could be like without the burden of doing all the emotional work, all the lone patching and rowing of a sinking ship.

We're reminded that there are unselfish shoulders out there who are willing to share the work. We're offered a hand up, a hand to soothe and a hand to hold. And suddenly, all the work we've done, all the effort/time/love that we've wasted doesn't seem to matter.

The good finds the good and pushes aside all of the fear, the bitterness, the expectations and the resentments, to make way for renewed hope and a rejuvenated urge to fight for what's good.

And time that felt wasted, seems like time spent learning.

Know thyself, first.

Temet Nosce 1

"If he doesn't think before he speaks, how is he going to think before he acts?"

"You can't take care of anyone if you can't take care of yourself, first."

"But I have certainly been an idiot. Not only did I not recognize the possibility that I might be killed, I've never REALLY considered the effect my death might have on everyone else in my family."


Sometimes I wonder who we think of. I mean, who are we considering when we make our daily decisions. Are we all that self-centered? Is our focus turned so inward that we forget what and who we have around us?

Do we know who we are? Do we know ourselves?

I know that I know myself better than I have before. I know that I ignore myself too often and I focus on myself just as often.

I know that I am in denial. I know that it's making my stomach hurt.

I know that I'm working hard at something that I should only be giving half as much effort to. I know that the other half of that effort isn't being given where it should.

I know that my bottomless pit of hope actually has a bottom. I know that I now give up where I used to fight infinitely.

I know that words mean nothing. Actions mean everything.

I know that I'm better than this. I know that I deserve better than this. I know that I've had better than this. I know that I'm at the doorstep of something much better than this.