Let me tell you a story about a puzzle. It seems not important but it plays a vital role in understanding ourselves. Without this puzzle, we will never understand the essence of living.

She is Ana, a girl with a puzzle carved in her heart. This puzzle made a lot of confusion to her. "What is this?" and "Why is it here?" she questioned. She never expected that this puzzle will change her perspective in life.

CONGRATULATIONS YOU'RE HIRED.

Whenever there's something good happens and when she's in a good mood, the puzzle increases in number.

Ana therefore realized that these puzzles meant something. The more she experienced struggles the puzzles increases its number.

What will I do with all these puzzles?

Because of lots of thinking and curiosity, Ana therefore realized those puzzles are the key to know her purpose. And the key to know your purpose is through experience that's why the puzzle increases in number as time passes by. 

Just like Ana, we tend to seek of what's our purpose to know ourselves more. It may leads us to confusion but the real essence of knowing ourselves is to find missing pieces of our puzzles through experience. That's why we must never forget the importance of thinking and being conscious in knowing our purpose to fully understand the self.

What is your own philosophy of self?

    Just like in my story, I can relate to Ana. The key for us to understand ourselves is to find and seek to our purpose. I use puzzle as a metaphor to purpose because just like when we're fixing puzzles, finding our purpose requires a lot of thinking and we can only achieve it through experience of ups and downs.

Which of the philosophy of the self relates to your own belief?

    Augustine's sense of self is his relation to God, John Locke that self is the mind that thinks and Socrates that man must live an an examined life and a life of purpose of value. I can relate to Augustine's belief because it is important to consider our Creator in knowing ourselves. That we must have a deep connection with Him to fully understand ourselves and our purpose. The self is a mind that thinks and accompanied with consciousness therefore the ability to think, reason,  be conscious and to reflect are all needed to grasp our existence. To have a purpose and to examine our lives also needed to be aware of our self.