Hold the Eggs

Legend has it that once upon a time, the seven sages of ancient Greece gathered in the Temple of Apollo at Delphi to lay the foundation for western culture. These philosophers, statesmen, and lawmakers developed one hundred and forty-seven aphorisms, known as the

Delphic maxims. Of these, they inscribed just one at the entry of the temple’s sacred oracle: ‘Know thyself.’

These two words traveled from antiquity to modern times, spreading through races and cultures, religious and scientific discourse. They showed up in philosophy, art, literature, policy, even how-to manuals on the art of war. ‘The essence of knowledge is self-knowledge,’ said Plato. His pupil, Aristotle, confirmed: ‘Knowing yourself is the beginning of all wisdom.’ Far away and centuries later, Rumi wondered: ‘Who am I in the midst of all this thought traffic?’ and even Lewis Carroll’s Alice, in her adventures in Wonderland, asked: ‘Who in the world am I? Ah, that’s the great puzzle.’

‘Know thyself.’ The most popular, most translated, most interpreted, and most difficult maxim of all. There is a reason that was the one the sages carved onto the temple forecourt.

Knowing yourself means knowing your worth. There are 7.8 billion souls in the world, of which you are but one. Knowing yourself means knowing your limitations, knowing your flaws. ‘If most of us remain ignorant of ourselves, it is because self-knowledge is painful and we prefer the pleasures of illusion.’ - Aldous Huxley wrote. Perhaps that is why so many ships and men, rot away in harbors; that is not what they are made for. With the recognition of limitations comes the audacity, and the purpose, to challenge them.

In fear, we stay in a small box of life. How many times have you told yourself; if I go for my dreams, I might fail. Or if I do something different, or speak out, something bad will happen, I’ll go bankrupt, or I won't be able to pay my rent or mortgage. Or if I leave this relationship that isn’t great, maybe I’ll never find anyone better. I should stay in it and learn to accept the reality of my life.

The fear of consequences is the most deadly fear, it paralyzes you, it traps you, it controls you. The only way to get out of this trap is to differentiate the voice that comes from your head and the one that comes from the heart.

Your heart voice emanates from feeling- it is an expansive sensation. If you want to go on a hero’s journey this is the voice you have to listen to. It will point you toward the decision you have to make. Even when you’re afraid, and the future is unknown, it’s only by traveling on the path will it show itself to you, never before. If it doesn’t show up immediately it’s because you haven’t gotten to the edge, Many here will retreat and they end up living as cowards. Aborting the process never knowing what they could have found and given life to.

But knowing yourself is not to be confused with finding yourself. Yourself is not a place, and it is not a specific time. A summer trekking through India or riding the night trains across Europe is a wonderful adventure indeed, but any self-realization it brings is circumstantial to its novelty. ‘One must find the source within one's own Self, one must possess it. Everything else is seeking - a detour, an error.’

- Herman Hesse

In one sappy romantic comedies that defined the 1990’s, Julia Roberts plays a young woman notorious for repeatedly getting engaged then running out on the groom on her wedding day. The movie features many breakfast scenes, in each of which she orders her eggs differently: poached, sunny-side up, scrambled…always the way her companion was having them. The truth was she did not know how she liked them. It was not that no one had asked her, but she was unaware of her own taste and never dared to find out.

‘We are shaped and fashioned by what we love,’ said Wolfgang von Goethe. Do we not then owe it to ourselves to find out what that is? We are entitled to know what defines us, and what makes us happy. And we are entitled to change our minds. We can lead as many lives as we want, so long as we remain true to ourselves in every one of them.

‘Know Thyself’ was written over the portal of the antique world. Over the portal of the new world, ‘Be Thyself’ shall be written.

– Oscar Wilde

At the end of life, humans are filled with regret because they wish they would have followed their hearts. They always knew what their heart was telling them, but didn’t listen. They turned deaf to their intuition. Intuition is actually God speaking directly to us. Don’t deny your gift who you are meant to be, what you are meant to accomplish; it’s your ultimate destiny.