<p>Although personal scrutiny is advised, we still need other people around us to help us understand ourselves. Most times, we may not be introspective; We need our parents, guardians, teachers, counselors to assist us in detecting our weaknesses, seeing our faults, realizing and working towards our goals and making us influential in the society. A few examples show that people close to us help us understand ourselves better.</p>
<p>According to the book gifted hands, Ben Carson explains how his mother was his paragon of encouragement and how she helped in developing him. His parents divorced when he was eight years old leaving his mother to carry the burden of the family; This is when he needed his dad most in lecturing him about life: its difficulties and challenges; Nevertheless, his mother took his father's responsibilities. When he performed badly in school, She would motivate him to do better because she understood he had the potentials of being very smart, all he needed was hardwork to activate them. Her influence on him stimulated his grades, therefore, he began to excel; Soon, he became the smartest kid in school. This proves that we need other people to understand and help us improve.</p>
<p>Like Ben Carson's mother, My mother understood and encouraged me. When I was a laggard in school, She helped me with studying and taught me; she gave me the attention I needed and helped improve my grades. There were times I failed some national exams, but she wasn't disappointed; She knew I was a smart kid and tried to keep me going in times I nearly gave up. This automatically gave me the drive to succeed and if it weren't for her, I wouldn't be writing the SAT now.</p>
<p>Analysing the above examples, indeed, we need other people to help us understand ourselves better. If we had no one around us to guide us, we would be like lost sheep wandering in the wilderness. The influence of other people can greatly impact our lives.</p>