KnOw YoUr SoUl - intro

Taken from a christian (catholic, to be precise) source.

I presume I, like everyone, do get to ask myself of a mening of my existence, of a meaning of my life down here, of a meaning of my actions (and of my non-actions) and words (and silences). Sometimes more often, but less vigorously, other times less often, but with less rigour, other times again, often and very rigorously, and so on.

This period of my life (to define "this" let me say it is the period of time covering my late twenties - early thirties; what? 10 years already? maybe a bit less...) is one of great internal confusion and questioning. Know not why it started, know not when exactly it started, but I know very well it is "here" and I am "in it", as confused and as searching-for-the-meaning as it gets.

So, that's the reason for looking for answers.

For looking for resources.

I thought this one could be one of them.

I think it is one of the better ones.

Of more honest ones.

Just - "try and see":

** In his spiritual classic The Imitation of Christ, Thomas á Kempis writes that if we could rid ourselves of just one vice per year, we would “very soon be holy.” This is precisely what this is about - about getting freed, step by step, from the bonds of sin and weaknesses so as to become those who we are called to be.

Set aside a time to reflect on your behaviors. Ask the Holy Spirit to enlighten your conscience as you try to identify your dominant passion... The simplest way to do this is to make an exhaustive list of all your sins and shortcomings. Those you list are the obstacles between you and God.

Once the list is made, go back over it and ask yourself why you are tempted in those ways. You will find that one of three dominant passions— Pride, Vanity, or Sensuality —is the motive behind each of the obstacles in your spiritual life. All of us have some manifestations of each of these three passions, so don’t be surprised if you get a mixture of answers. However, if you deeply reflect and truly go to the root of your motives, most likely one of these passions will emerge more frequently than the others. This is your dominant passion: the passion which motivates you most of the time.

A simple way to determine which passion motivates your actions is to ask yourself what you were most afraid of or concerned about:

letting myself down (pride);

what others would think (vanity);

or how it would make me feel (sensuality).
So that you’ll better recognize these three passions, below we’ll mention some of their most common manifestations...**

(to be continued)