Self-realization, the feel-good word that you sometimes hear but have never really experienced. Let me explain to you what I call a self-realization. Do you ever wonder why you act the way that you do? For example, when you get angry or impatient with someone, what is it they are doing that flips your angry-trigger? What kind of situations do you prefer to avoid? Why? When you find an explanation for your behavior that applies to you in most all situations, I would call this a self-realization.

I have discovered that I am the “task-oriented” type of person. I like to accomplish pre-defined tasks, and if someone else is working with me, it is twice as fun. For example, why would I want to strike up small-talk with someone? Unless it is a friend or a serious conversation, why would I want to make small-talk? Unless we are working on something together, it just feels like we are wasting time.

Here is how I realized it. In Japan, it often takes more than a few minutes to get from one place to another, and because cars aren’t the norm, friends often walk or bike together. My problem is that people take this time to chat, and moving incredibly slow is an immediate side-effect of this. When I agreed to go and do something with you, I agreed to go and DO something with you, not GO and do something with you. Was there really a miscommunication? I find joy in DOING things. Why? My best guess is that I am very competitive, so when there is a set task at hand and I can see the finish line, why would I want to distract myself with other things on the way?

Because I am this way, unless we are working on something together, I will probably seem like a very frank and unkind fellow. But, if we agreed to something together, then I will seem like one of the most fun guys you know. I’m going to have a hard time meeting anybody outside of my immediate workplace, so I had better choose a workplace with lots of cute, young females to work with. Either that or I turn to online dating.

Alright, cool, way too much about myself. We aren’t exactly accomplishing anything by reading about my self-realizations; we have more productive things to be doing.