Man, in his sanity, wishes either for self-improvement or just be satisfied with who he is. The problem starts when he becomes self-aware of his problems and he, constantly puts on a guard against the world, his friends, his family and others to protect his ego instead of transforming himself. These people become like an unmoving pond where the algae and fungus put effort to keep the Pond still but in turn they pollute and demolish the quality of water there.
Human beings have been endowed with some qualities and some concerns. The problem starts when you start ignoring the concerns of your personality and you do not work on them. I know many people who will fight tooth and nail to protect what they are. To tell someone that you are an Instagram addict or social media addict, even this simple thing is so dangerous today. The defenses they use are phenomenal.
They know that they are suffering because of it, but this simple fact is unacceptable to them that another person can also sense their discomfort. I intended to highlight just the fact that since your sufferings are linked with comparison, would not it be better if you leave this place for good? Sadly, to protect one's ego seems more important to today's man than to work on one's mental and physical well-being.
Do individuals really want to self-improve? Because most of the times, Self-improvement comes under the garb of an exhibitionism. To show that you are improving is somehow more important than to actually improve. The age of modernity has rendered human beings to more narcissism. These narcissistic tendencies tend to shift the goal post of every human being towards oneself. Everything should be done for the welfare of the individual itself. But is it Welfare even? To be hedonistic enough not to see long term benefits of one's life, is it even proper egoism? It is not.
These people were what Ayn Rand, in her book Fountainhead had termed as self-destructive people. People, who cannot even do things that are actually right for them. People, who think blind hedonism in their day-to-day life will eventually benefit them. People, who do not take care of their mental health with a lethargy that blinds them to the nearest gratification, the earliest scroll on Instagram, the earliest scroll of YouTube.
Buddha has ended the scope of personal philosophy with the assertion of the reason why you remain unhappy is your desires. The self-destructive people come under the category of people who nearly have ended the scope of their personal growth out of the garb of exhibitionism.
Individual is the limit of autonomy that one has arrived. The smallest autonomous entity that we know is an individual. This individual's autonomy is threatened by a variety of factors, namely, his own self-destructing habits, externalities and their effects and so on. His own role in diminishing his own autonomy lies in the fact that he chooses to destroy his own life in the name of autonomy. So, should not all people be autonomous? Should not all people be given freedom? I believe Freedom should be given equally to all. But that leads us to another interesting conclusion.
You cannot heal the whole world. You cannot make the whole world improve with the help of criticism and concern. Some people will die with the same ailments that they caught at the age of 19 or 20. That might seem sad, but this is the ultimate truth. What one can hope, especially the self-aware one, who possesses some agency over oneself, is to mend oneself, disregarding the actions of others, being benevolent to their tragic condition. The self-aware one should constantly move on the path of self-improvement because he is the one who knows the worth of self-improvement in its own sake and not because of some parochial exhibitionism.
The self-aware man, the self-aware woman, is not enough. He should have enough agency to act upon his weaknesses and work upon his strengths. The self-awareness is a symptom of today's world. Everyone thinks he is self- aware. But Self-awareness does not mean anything without an agency to uplift oneself from the slough one finds oneself in when one introspects and encounters.
The age of modernity and post-modernity has bereft individuals of religious goals. The religious and spiritual goals at least had an element of self-improvement in them. Now a days, all goals are projected outwards either for material success or for professional gains. People who value the quality of life and every moment that they live, will value this fact that self-improvement is actually a kind of freedom right that only a few can access even if freedom is available to all.
This leads us to the end. Insecurities are precisely the unfreedom that lies us to our lesser self. Man, is nothing if not he moves, improves and becomes. Human beings are constantly human becomings. If the making is not taken care of, they might become Inhumans. We do not wish another generation of Inhuman beings. As an individual, I can only care this much that I put my ideas into words. Rest, all my concerns will and should remain to myself. I practice rational egoism, or objective selfishness to its core. That is the basis of Ayn Rand's philosophy.
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