Identity: what defines you as an individual, or more practically speaking, what you believe defines you as an individual. Everything you believe to be true about yourself contributes to your sense of identity, directly or indirectly, real or misperceived. You may value certain aspects more than others, which in itself is relevant, but even unacknowledged influences contribute to our self-perception. These aspects will be both concrete and abstract: Materially, you are a human being; circumstantially, you likely have a specific occupation; ideologically, you have convictions and beliefs which are inherently preclusive to others.
Beyond your identity is your worldview, which is your fundamental beliefs about the world. You interpret and comprehend according to your worldview, defining your biases towards whatever engages consideration, including yourself. Depending on how aware you are of your worldview, you may consciously adjust your ideologies for consistency or practicality over time, but such changes will usually be slight. Rarely you may experience a radical paradigm shift, which is a change in understanding within your worldview that necessitates a reorientation of your belief structure. Such shifts are often metaphysically focused, but can also result from relatively mundane realizations, as in a sudden awareness of logical incompatibility between fundamental beliefs.
When you encounter a challenge to your worldview, you are more likely to outright defy the challenge than to adjust your beliefs. To a certain extent, this is logical, since by definition you judge such considerations by your worldview; you cannot deny your own bias without appealing to an alternative standard, and your understanding of such standards will itself be affected by your current perspective. Nonetheless, you may feel compelled to alter your worldview based on extenuating circumstances, to retain internal consistency or by fresh conviction. Such an event can be difficult to adjust to, yet is ultimately deemed worthwhile for sake of long-term improvement.
For some, the idea of being wrong is inconceivable. It can be genuinely terrifying to consider the possibility that your most intrinsic beliefs are in error, thereby invalidating much of what you think you know. Even worse is the impact such a realization can have on your sense of identity; if the principles by which you define yourself are wrong, how do you know who you are? Yet for how troubling such a possibility is, it is often far closer then you realize, due to the degree of change we naturally experience over time. Materially, you grow older; circumstantially, your occupation changes; ideologically, your beliefs must be freshly applied to seemingly new and unforeseen circumstances. It is thus important to have a stable foundation by which to weather these changes, a higher standard to which to appeal in times of doubt.
But as for me, I will look to the LORD; I will wait for the God of my salvation; my God will hear me. – Micah 7:7
Be self-aware. TTT