Introspection: when it comes time to take stock of your life
Embarking on a path of introspection, looking inside to understand where you are, and above all where you want to go is important for each of us. It allows us to put our thoughts in order and define goals. Analyze your personality and find out if the judgment of others counts too much for you and if something external affects you. There are some simple exercises to strengthen your self-esteem - we have collected them for you in this video!
Introspection in Philosophy: when the thinking subject questions himself about what he has done and will do
In philosophy Socrates affirms the necessity of introspection understood as reflection of the soul on itself. The "Know thyself", self-knowledge indicates to man the path to reach virtue and is the ethical principle of his happiness. For Socrates, self-awareness is the basic presupposition of wisdom. For the Neoplatonists, introspection is the dialogue of the soul with itself. Already in the last works of Plato the monologue had replaced the form of dialogue and even in the Hellenistic period the essay is one who meditates on his own interiority. According to Saint Augustine, precisely because there is God in the soul of each individual, introspection makes one become aware of His will. This concept was then shared by most Christian thinkers, because they believed that only through "introspection can it be understood by" man how ethics is innate in his soul. Even for Kant morality is the voice of conscience that with " introspection we are able to transpose.
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Introspection and psychology: what you are and what you want comes before what everyone else thinks
Psychology since the 1930s has neglected introspection, relying more on behavior. In fact, many consider the introspective technique alone (also because it is merely subjective) insufficient, which should always be integrated with the method of investigation based on behavior, which in addition to being objective, allows others to observe how psychic aspects are manifested externally. Introspection as a process of analysis of oneself, of one's emotions, of one's sensations and of the deepest reasons for his way of behaving, the ego that observes his inner moods, was the most used technique in the nineteenth century. opposed by positivism and decisively contested in the early twentieth century, in which the greater effectiveness of behavioral analysis in the psychological investigation is reaffirmed.
Introspection: limits and advantages
Introspective abilities seem to belong more to introverts, those of communicating facts depend on the quality of the subjects' mode of communication and in this case it is the extroverts who are more skilled in doing so. Introspection on memories can make changes to the real experience. Even if we take these issues into account, introspection is still a source for making hypotheses to be verified later. Doing psychological introspection is important. However, one must be sensitive and have analytical skills to be able to begin this path of awareness of one's interiority. With introspection, we get closer to our soul, we deeply explore our real personality and we can work to implement changes with real awareness. It helps us to know ourselves deeply, to accept and respect ourselves for who we really are. It's all a matter of method but the first thing, as in all things, is to get started!
Psychological introspection: a game to start with
To begin this journey in our interiority, you could try to write, as sincerely and according to conscience as possible, revealing to a sheet the events of the past that still torment your soul, what you would still like in life, what you fear. All this without getting caught up in a sense of helplessness and a mistaken awareness that you cannot solve any of your problems. Make clear the essential concepts, leave out those of secondary importance. List your thoughts, your desires, your fears and then the opinions others have of you, the relationship problems with them and the expectations they have about you. Then mark the former with a light color, the latter with a dark color. Then delete the dark colored ones and you will see that there are many more than the light colored ones. Just think of these, yours. Don't worry about what other people want from you or what other people say about you, because your life belongs only to you and you don't let anyone create anguish and frustration. It is not easy initially to face a real path of introspection, but the difficulties of the early days could be compensated by the advantages that your life, your relationship with yourself and with the world will derive from it.
