An Introduction to Psychology, Essay Example

According to Abraham Maslow (1908 –1970)self-actualization is both an achievement and goal of every human being whether it is acknowledged or not. Maslow perceived self-actualization as a quality whereby a person has the exceptional ability of detecting irregularities in the people around them (Coon, 2007). In some cases it moves beyond persons into the environment. In some sciences other than psychology this feature is considered qualities of the psychic power. Some people have the technique of knowing through, clairsentience, and clairvoyance.

Self-actualization consists of havingefficient perceptions of reality. For me reality means facing experiences in life, many times people tend to evade the truth about themselves, they hide in their shadows. Everyone has a dark and golden shadow. When they realize this reality as it is they are then demonstrating another characteristic of Maslow, which is comfortable acceptance of self, others and nature. I have come to terms with this although it is very difficult at times to accept those who have done wrong to me. I realize that we are all here to better but sometimes we make mistakes.I rely on my own experiences and build on them while being true to myself during this life process. This helps me to unfold and realizemy life’s purpose also I become in tune with myself and enabled to complete tasks which were otherwise difficult.

As my life progresses, I have learned to keep away from negativity and focus on the positive outlook on life. Sometimes this means I have to get into myself and work on appreciating who I am and how far I have come. In this stage of innocence, I find myself more creative and I manifest many ideas that wouldhave escaped my attention.

As I become more self-actualized a state of bliss is encountered. I laugh more and find myself interacting with professional people. I do not have the desire to speak with naive people realizing that they are not genuine. This actualization process assistme to let go of some relationships that are not working in my life. Consequently the right people gravitate to me.As Maslow stated, we do not always demonstrate all fifteen self-actualization characteristics every second of our lives. They often occur in peaks. Sometimes we randomly feel at peace with the universe, in a calm state radiating life and beauty. At other times events in the world cause us to lose sight of feelingsthat create peak experiences (Coon, 2007).

In concluding, I must admit that become a caring person is one of my goals of attaining self- actualization. It means extending compassion to people who are in need especially those experiencing poverty. There are thousands of billionaires in the world and millions of people living in poverty. Poverty reflects that self-actualization has not been achieve if people live in poverty. Whileit cannot be said that I have overcome poverty, I can still help in eradicating it from the world. It would meanI have to align myself with resources that promote wealth such as surrounding myself with people who have a wealth consciousness. These interactive features would help attain most of Maslow’s fifteen self-actualization characteristics.

References

Coon, M. (2007). An Introduction to Psychology: Gateways to Mind and Behavior.  New York. Houghton-Mifflin