Two Tasks

There are two developmental tasks we humans must master if we’re to ever have full and meaningful lives. At first these two things seem mutually exclusive and even contradictory. They’re not.  First we must learn to accept ourselves. Then we must promptly learn to forget ourselves. The primary task of the child is to learn to accept themselves as themselves, warts and all. They are who they are by design. They’re full of worth and value that does not need to be validated by the opinions of others. This seems to be the major concern of teenagers and it stands in the way of them becoming fully adult. Some live their entire life without ever accomplishing this goal and thus exist in a perpetual stage of adolescence. For those who do manage to accept themselves, they must then learn to forget themselves. This is the life goal of the mature adult – to live not for the benefit of self but for the profit of others, even the self-absorbed ones.