Self What?

Geeze, do you know what that requires? We live in a culture that tells us that everything is about us that it becomes a challenge to combat it. Let's see, our nature tells us that we come first and then we live in this culture that reaffirms it and encourages it. I actually find it a bit tragic when we succumb to the self because when difficult situations arise that include our "self", we quickly internalize emotions and start to get self-conscious and unstable. In other words, when we are into our "self" so much that we can't look beyond our "self" in those situations, it is as if we are standing on quick sand waiting to be devoured by anger, resentment, guilt, doubt, or confusion. On the flip side, if we are so full of our "self" when things are working out in our favor (i.e. career, relationships, hobby, etc.) , we become blinded by pride and our ego. Like the former, we're not only sinking in quick sand, but we're now on eroding quick sand. I've been in both places, and I can say that the lows and highs do not offer anything stable, secure and satisfying. For most of my young life (and yes, I consider myself still young :)), I had no idea what it meant to have something secure and stable. I relied on my own being to guide me and I thought I knew best what I should do with my life only to discover that I was only fooling myself. As situations arose (the not-s0-good ones, especially), it became apparent that I had no clue what I was doing nor what the purpose of my life was. It was only until I began searching for truth and learning about the god in the Bible that it became more clear that basing my life on my "self" was so unproductive and unsatisfying. Today, I cannot imagine going back to that place of self-reliance and self-centeredness when I know that I can stand on something solid and unchanging, my rock--- God.