Self-importance or Self-awareness?

Totally self-awareness. There is far too much self-importance in the world as it is.

If you truly know yourself, your self importance won’t be possible. With all your self esteem, you’re still nothing but a speck the earth.

self-awareness

@marinelife Seconded.
Also I suck at deluding myself.
Oh and just a thought but aren’t they intertwined?
They both involve an outlook of self, and being self aware takes as much or more time and thought then inflatedness. If you spend that much mental energy on self isn’t that a reflection of priorities. I understand there is a different action and outcome from the processes. But they seem like two sides of the same coin.

Knowing oneself is true inner strength. It takes courage. Self importance is a cover up for the scabs and all.

I am really bad at being self aware. I often don’t realize how I am being perceived, and I even have a hard time realizing when I am physically uncomfortable. The other day, riding in the car I was cranked and didn’t realize it. After 20 miles or so I realized that the dog had put a rock on my seat and I was sitting on it!
As far as acknowledging my faults I think, that once they are pointed out to me I am at least as good as most at admitting them. (After a reasonable amount of sulking.)

The trick is to know oneself – scabs and all – and steal believe in one’s importance. I don’t believe that a person can really be at peace with themselves and get to a point where they see their intrinsic worth without taking to time to reflect and perform the world famous “fearless self inventory” which is of course an ongoing process. Exaggerated self-importance usually indicative (to me at least) of low self-esteem.

Well said, @SuperMouse

In the past, I was all in favor of self awareness. But self awareness in association with depression can create big problems. One can latch onto negative things about oneself and use them to drive oneself into the ground.

So I have more recently learned the value of not paying too much attention to one’s negative side. Being so self aware is not always helpful. It’s not so much the awareness as the context that is key. And when you are in no position to put things in the proper context, it’s probably best to eschew deep awareness.

@SuperMouse: Exaggerated self-importance usually indicative (to me at least) of low self-esteem.

True. And yet, Too much self-awareness can drive one’s self esteem into the cesspool. It’s hard to find the right balance.

Stealth awareness

@wundayatta that is a great point, sometimes too much self-awareness leads to self-loathing, especially if one is prone to being incredibly hard on oneself.

@wundayatta when you stare into abyss the abyss stares back at you…

There are a ton of people in prison that had a disproportionate amount of self importance and self esteem. They all believed their actions were more important than anyone else’s.

@rosehips It doesn’t just stare back. It calls and holds open its arms wide. It wants you with a fierce desire, more powerful than that of any lover. I dare not look. I dare not stand at the edge. Because if I did, I don’t think I could resist the call. And I don’t want to find out what it means to fall into forever and nothing. God. Just thinking about it I can feel them calling. They want me. Not just me. Anyone. But they are so hungry. Like Dantes Inferno. They have not felt the breath of life in forever, and they would gladly take mine if I became so foolish as to decide to give it to them.

Nope. That’s one place I never want to get near again.

Hmm…

I have gotten to know myself pretty well and I still like myself. So unless I’m misunderstanding, I don’t fully understand why they’re presented as mutually exclusive?

If I had to choose between one or the other, though, I’d take the awareness. Self-important, unaware people have a tendency to be pretty destructive.

It’s probably more of a continuum than an either/or situation. When you first begin to know yourself, it can be quite disappointing to really be aware of all of your flaws, which can, of course lead to a depressing state of mind, if not outright depression. The trick is to not give up at that point. To continue to explore your own depths, to accept that your flaws are what they are, but do not negate all the good in you. And to understand that everyone has flaws, and realize that you still like or love them, anyway. Why not do yourself the same courtesy?

Self importance beyond basically healthy self esteem is ego.
Self awareness is being aware of yourself, your thoughts, behaviors and the connections between the two.
Self awareness promotes growth, self importance inhibits it.
A very egotistical person believes they are flawless and above any need for self examination/self improvement.

I have been fortunate to have the benefit of an excellent education that encompassed many subjects. I am well aware of the areas where my knowledge and experience allow me to help others. I am increasingly aware of what I do not know and what I am not able to do. I am fortunate to have discovered flaws in myself that guide me to avoid repeating errors and mistakes. I accept my deficits and weaknesses as strongly as I am aware of my strengths. I consider myself to be continuing to grow in my self-awareness; It is a lifelong process.

Only rarely do I find myself acting self-important or believing my knowledge to be better that the accumulated knowledge and experience of others. Formal education while valuable, does not necessarily result in the greatest knowledge, let alone wisdom. I continue to benefit from the knowledge and experience of others, regardless of the source of their knowledge and wisdom.

Self-awareness. I don’t actually see being self-aware as an evil. I see it as a positive. I think it is a quest we have to continually work towards. It certainly is in my own case. I learn about my own positives and negatives every day.

Self-importance is on the other hand a negative in my opinion.

I don’t see either as an evil.
Adjective:
Profoundly immoral and malevolent.
Noun:
Profound immorality, wickedness, and depravity, esp. when regarded as a supernatural force.
Synonyms:
adjective. wicked – bad – ill – vicious – malign – sinister
noun. harm – ill – mischief – wrong – disaster – wickedness
If you don’t see yourself as important to yourself then you don’t love yourself. You can still be self important without having any of the traits of being evil.
Now if you had said narcissistic than I would consider that evil.
Being self aware will also not be describe as being evil.
But if I had to choose which would less likely be a flaw with the potential to be evil, then it would be self awareness.

In this ocean of stars, I have absolutely no importance, that is, in the long run, and whatever importance I have is but a pipe dream, an illusion, a delusion, and the stuff of small time chieftains who get wasted soon enough, anyway.
But, I’m hungry, I gotta eat, I don’t wanna die, or so my feelings tell me, so I gotta swing that axe, bro. Self awareness. Of which I also have none of, but I do know what street I live on, that’s always a good start.

I know my shit stinks, but it’s also a very pretty colour.

@wundayatta It hasn’t left me yet. I am well aware of that siren’s call. I have learned strategies to not be consumed by the turmoil, the stark seeming clarity and futility as well as confusion as I pull away. But it is solely dependent on me to utilize those safety mechanisms and each time is still a victory even if it is just for a day.

I understand. One day at a time. It is a new battle every day. Wundatta time. But it got me through several years so far. Some of them have not been so hard, either.