Such a simple question perhaps, yet, many of us spend our
whole lives trying to answer this particular question.
So, who are you?
You, who are reading this right now, who are you?
Do you at times find yourself asking this question?
Commonly, when asked who we are, many of us tend to
answer with what we do.
Although identifying ourselves with what we do may
for some of us very well be who we believe ourselves
essentially to be. If asked who we are, we may proudly
answer: I am an artist, a plumber, a preacher, a doctor, etc.
(For some of us what we do may be so intertwined with who we
are that we often do not experience any real
separation between the two.)
In my view, the question as to who we are applies to our
internally motivating mindsets, as in our core values, our beliefs,
our guiding moral and ethical principles.
In short; that which we experience as our essence, that which
we call ''me''.
So, here's the thing that I have discovered and would like to
share with you: Who we are is not necessarily a permanent position,
who we are is more of an ongoing process.
That which we call ''us'' is made up of a mixture of our thoughts,
what we've heard, seen, experienced, been part of, believe,
have read about, people we've known and know.
Our identity is constantly being molded and remolded
by our life experiences and what we perceive and make of them.
Sometimes we may go through experiences that makes us
question who we are, the choices we make and why we made
them in the first place.
Much as we may prefer for life to be predictable, it seldom is.
Unpredictable events can challenge our core beliefs and
unsettle our sense of who we are.
A single sentence can potentially make us question
all that we thought we knew about ourselves and have
us on our knees. As in for instance: ''You have Stage four cancer''.
(I was once told that I had stage 2 cancer and that I
had to book myself in for surgery immediately.
A few words and just like that my life was balancing
on the edge of a surgeons knife.)
Joy is a friend, pain is a teacher, I have decided.
Going through really difficult times, regardless of
what the difficulties may be, is always a challenge.
But it is also an opportunity to grow, to learn,
to change and to embrace rather than fight against
uncertainty/unpredictability.
''It may be easier to live through a ''make-believe'' self,
a self that is strong, independent and confident,
than it is to stare your own self down and find
it wanting.
It may be easier to ignore moments of self-doubt and
insecurity when such thoughts can be easily
rid of by confidently stating: ''I am who I am''.
It may be less frightening to ask the question ''who am I?''
when the automatic answer is always
''that's just the way I am''.
But does that really tell you who you are?
(Citizen Z)
''We are always in the process of becoming.
Self-identity is a fusion of our prior decisions
and our current thoughts.''
(Kilroy J. Oldster)
If you feel that you somehow seem to have
miss-placed or lost some part or parts of
yourself maybe these words may be helpful:
Try to doubt yourself less.
Allow intuition to guide you.
Embrace those bits in you that you like.
Observe your feelings.
Self-reflect regularly.
about the image: Photographic image made from scans, real
bark and a leaf, edited.
