Get Along with Your Self

To be able to get along with yourself is marvelous. Most people know how difficult it is to get along with others. But have you ever given thought to getting along with yourself? That is most difficult. Separate your psychological perceptions from yourself and you will see how you are constantly fighting with yourself. You do not like anyone or anything if you do not like yourself. If one does not get along with himself, how could he be expected to get along with others? Getting along with self is the most important point in getting along in this world. So first and foremost you must learn truly to appreciate and love yourself. But when I say love yourself, I do not mean love for your egotism, selfishness, and self-interest. Love yourself because you are a child of God with divine potentials; it is your love and concern for this potential self that inspires and inspirits unfoldment of your true soul-nature. You cannot get away from yourself, even if you fly away from civilization to the farthest corner of the earth. That is why God wants you to correct yourself where you are. Some people live in the worst circumstances and are wonderful in their ability to get along with themselves. Others have every opportunity in the world, but they cannot get along with themselves; they are constantly at war within. You must not wait for your circumstances to change. If you wait for that, you will never make any progress. Say to yourself, "I am all right in spite of my environment. If I want to meditate, I will find a way to meditate in spite of my surroundings. If I want to study to improve my min, I will do so regardless of outer conditions." I knew a remarkable man in India who was versed in eighteen languages; yet he was so poor that he couldn't even afford a lamp to read by. So he used to go to the street corner and read under the streetlight. "Where there is a will, there is a way." There is no excuse that you cannot correct yourself despite any outer conditions. You are the only one who knows whether you can get along with yourself, for you hide yourself very cleverly from others. That is why it is up to you to strive every day to find out whether you are at peace with yourself. Master [Swami Sri Yukteswar] used to say, "Learn to behave." In that lies great inner peace and happiness. When you learn to get along with yourself, you will know how to get along with everybody. That is what I learned. - Journey To Self-Realization by Paramahansa Yogananda