I used to know a “computer guy”. I use quotations because it turned out this guy was not a real computer guy. He was more of a guy who messed with computers. Truth is he was pretty awful at his job, something I learned the hard way.
I had a laptop that needed a tune-up so I gave it to the “computer guy” to fix. When I got the computer back, it ran even slower than before. In addition, my desktop was covered with shortcuts to software that I never wanted. There was a greeting card maker, two DVD rippers, a freeware video editor, two media players, and various software (all of which contained malware) that were supposed to enhance the performance of the machine, all of which did not.
I learned my lesson and hired a for-real, bonafide computer guy. This new guy knew what he was doing. He knew what was useful and what was not, and what wasn’t needed was deleted. After a few minutes of dragging useless stuff to the trash, the computer ran like new again.
Sure the wannabe computer guy nearly ruined my computer, but I’m grateful because a powerful lesson on self-discovery can be derived from his lack of professionalism.
I pay attention when I hear people talking about self-discovery, and I’ve found that when a person searches for herself, she typically looks for answers outside of herself. Like the wannabe computer guy, she mistakenly believes that adding is better than taking away. The wannabe computer guy erroneously adds unnecessary software to the computer to enhance its performance in the same way she adds superfluous beliefs to enhance her self. She looks for herself in her job, her children, her spirituality, her sports team, her education, and so on, believing her true identity will be found or improved by adding new identities.
This approach will only bring temporary satisfaction. Ultimately, it will never work because adding new concepts to your self makes it harder to see your true essence. Simply put, external identification creates a wannabe self-image, never a bonafide Self. If you want to discover who you really are beyond self-concept, you must remove ideas, concepts, and beliefs about your self to get to the core of who you really are. This is true self-enhancement.
The bonafide computer guy had it right. Only by looking within can you see what is useful and what is not, and what is no longer needed should be moved to the trash and discarded. Letting go of unnecessary self-concepts, hand-me-down beliefs, and fictional stories of the past is the only way to truly reveal the essence of who and what you really are.
Which computer guy are you?