The biggest battle in life is between you and the old you!
Yes, I never thought of it quite like that but I agree.
There is a lot I don't like about the old me so I am always questioning my old beliefs and actions. It is often refreshing to view them with a different perspective.
Not so much the old me exactly, as the artificial conditions I've historically attached to my own happiness. In other words I can't be happy unless most things go the way I think they should or expect them to. Rather than figuring out how life actually works and learning to flex with it.
I've gotten a lot better at it though.
I have completely reinvented myself several times. Old identities tend to fall apart after awhile. One has to be willing to become what life is making you into, as well. To recognize what identities / identifications and beliefs aren't serving you well.
I agree. I'm always starting over. I used to hate it but the older I get now, the more i"m enjoying it.
I agree.
It helps, I think, to realize that a fixed identity for one's "self" is illusory anyway. I'm very different from what I imagined myself to be 50 years ago but on the other hand what I imagined back then was mostly horse shit anyway. If I live another 50 years then I will probably think my present self to be horse shit too. The problem is that our intellect and perception are so deeply flawed that it's the work of a lifetime to usefully approach an accurate understanding of ourselves, others, life, etc.
But we think we have it figured out up front and then try to get life to conform to our misbeliefs. From this comes much discontent and outright misery.
@mordant I think most of our perception comes from the outside such as TV and influences of people around us instead of experiencing what is real. I've learned that just because he didn't go to Jared, I can live without it, or it's okay not to eat McDonald's and I'm still lovin it. And father not always knows best.