Discover the real you and your Potential

Who are you and why are you here? It may seem like a straightforward question. Most would answer by giving their name without giving it much thought. However, on deeper reflection, do you really understand who you are?

Our world today has one great irony that is mind-boggling: the majority of people in the world are trying very hard to conform to what someone else wants them to be. It is often so subtle that we fail to realize that that is what we are doing. As Sarah McLachlan points out: “We're constantly being told what other people think we are, and that's why it is so important to know yourself.”

It happens at many levels. For instance, television bombards us with images of how we should look and dress, what we should eat and drink, what car we should drive and even what kind of person we should marry. Some even go as far as telling us how to fall in love!

We look around us for things that will help us define who we are. In-fact the majority of people have no sense of identity apart from the clothes they wear, the car they drive, where they live, who they are married to and so on. If we had to strip you of everything you own and leave you on some island away from everything you think defines you, would you still have a clear sense of who you are? What defines you? Some would think of themselves in terms of their body. The image of their face and body defines who they are. If we were to remove you from your body, would you still know who you are? It sounds weird, I know, but understand that man is a spirit; he lives in a body and has a soul. Your body is simply a means of expressing yourself and interacting with your physical environment.

So your body is not really who you are. At the core of it, you are more than that. In-fact that is why it is so hard for people to fully understand and appreciate who they are. Who you are cannot be seen, touched, smelt, heard or tasted. Your senses cannot tell you who you are. The concept of self in the true form is something beyond the grasp of our physical bodies and senses. We are complex beings. We cannot be defined by the things around us, but by the things within us. I believe that in essence we are what we think. Physically as human beings we are all essentially the same. It is our thoughts and experiences that differentiate us.  Our true identity, then, lies within us, not outside of us. We should define who we are based on our thoughts, our values, principles and beliefs. It's okay to have material things and all, but they should not be our sense of self. They are just things that are there to make our lives easier. If you were suddenly homeless today that would not change who you are as a person.