Ups and downs abound
Acceptance is essential
Ups and downs abound
Acceptance is essential
Openness is a particularly strong aspect of my personality. My appetite for knowledge knows no bounds. My imagination has been a close companion of mine from an early age. I need intellectual stimulation.
I have my parents to thank for this. Thanks to my dad – who’s a professor – I’ve become a well-spoken, independent-minded, and highly intelligent young man. Thanks to my mom – who exposed me to fine art and classical music from a tender age – I’ve come to have a deep appreciation for and/or interest in art, music, literature, architecture, etc. Despite being somewhat simplistic, this characterization of parental influences upon the development of my personality is, for the purposes of this post, adequately true.
In addition to being a prominent factor of my personality, openness to experience is a pertinent part of my self-identity. I, admittedly, take pride in it. Despite this pride, however, I’ve come to recognize that there’s a downside to it.
Upon defeating my unskilful diabetes management habits I was struck by discontent. Having been seized by such an uncomfortable feeling, I was compelled to introspect. New insight was the result.
This is what I’ve come to realize:
Looking back at other periods where I’ve felt discontent (there have been quite a few), I’ve observed this universal pattern:
From my observations, I’ve concluded that being engaged intellectually and having a creative outlet at all times is essential for my happiness.
Even if my memory serves me wrong (a distinct possibility), this conclusion still makes sense due to my extremely high levels of openness.
Going forward, I’m going to make a conscious effort to make sure that I always have a source of intellectual stimulation and an outlet for my creativity.