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| My high school graduation took place at John Carroll University. |
I spoke about my high school experiences--good ones and bad ones--and different emotions felt. I concluded my speech with the following words:
From day one, they told us to remember to always "seek what is above". As we head in different directions and move on with our lives, may I add:
Let us remember to always seek what is within.
Since then, I have graduated with a couple business degrees, worked in the business world, and returned to school to become a career counselor and EAP (employee assistance program) counselor.
Over time, I have learned that to 'seek what is within' is the start of a bigger process.
In one of my first counseling classes, a professor showed us a YouTube video featuring comedian Michael Jr. In the video, Michael discusses the difference between ‘what’ and ‘why’. For Michael, standup comedy is simply his means (his ‘what’) to get people to walk with purpose (his ‘why’).
Next, Michael cues up a video clip. In this video, he turns to an audience member to demonstrate this point. He first asks this audience member--who is a music teacher--to sing part of the song "Amazing Grace". The teacher proceeds to sing the song reasonably well.
However, Michael is not finished demonstrating. Rather, he asks the teacher to sing the song again, this time with background information and circumstances that would influence why he is singing the song. This time, the teacher not only sings the song well, but he also sings it very passionately.
In the counseling world, self-awareness is critical to the mental health of both the counselor and the client.
We need to be able to process our thoughts, feelings, actions, and senses. We need to be aware of our needs, our wants, and our passions. Interpersonal dynamics can certainly impact how we process everything. Yet, while we share views, values, and experiences with others, each person's perspective is uniquely his or her own perspective. Overall, we are a combination of what is inside us and what is outside and around us.
Another counseling professor has told us time and time again to "own it". In particular, we need to own who we are and what we feel.
In life, it is very easy to lose sight of ourselves and get caught up in stress and disappointments. When facing obstacles and other challenges, we can get stuck 'zooming in' on a few details. We become focused on 'how' to get through a difficult time or 'what' needs to be done to move onto the next step of a task or process. Instead of 'zooming in', sometimes we need to 'zoom out' in order to see all of the details within the framework of the big picture. In looking at the whole picture, we can get a better understanding of how everything relates to each other. In identifying these relationships, we can figure out 'why' things are a certain way, 'why' we are the way we are, and 'why' any changes need to be made.
Life is very much a process of putting a bunch of puzzle pieces together. Instead of a flat, two-dimensional puzzle, our puzzle includes multiple dimensions and layers, including the details inside us and the details outside and around us. To connect these dimensions and layers and put together our puzzles, to 'seek what is within' is the start of a bigger process.
Therefore, I leave you with these words today: Seek what is within, establish self-awareness, know your 'why', own it, live it, and share it.
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