How Do You Define Yourself?

How make you define yourself? When asked, who make you state that you are? I was recently talking with one of my blood brothers who told me about a individual he cognizes that looks to have got no life outside of his job. No hobbies, few friends and even when he would be wise to make so, he declines to remain away from work to rest or recuperate. Now I don't cognize this individual and may be mistaken, but it struck me that he might be person who defines himself solely by the major function he plays in life--his occupation description.

It's so easy to acquire our personal identity tangled up in our careers, work, functions or occupation titles. We look to believe that we are what we do. We define ourselves solely in footing of the function or functions we play in life. This, my friends, is a formula for serious restriction and life trauma. What haps to your personal identity when that occupation or function stops or alterations so dramatically you no longer place with it? You often hear of people (perhaps you cognize a few or are one of the statistics yourself) who attain a certain point in life--usually midlife--when suddenly they get to inquiry what they believe about themselves. Examples are the executive director that loses her occupation with all its fringe benefits and benefits when the company is bought out, or the parents who never looked outside their functions as ma or dad, and establish themselves depressed "empty nesters" when the children go forth home. The existential inquiry "Is that all there is?" gets to rearward its head, and there are no easy replies when you've spent old age defining yourself primarily as the thing you do.

Folks we are not things. But it's so easy to utilize such as labels to depict ourselves or define others. We state them so effortlessly and often we come up to believe of ourselves and others purely in one-dimensional terms. "Oh, he's my CPA" or "she's a nurse." Even such as verbal descriptions as "I'm a Christian" or "I'm a Democrat or Republican" are seriously self-limiting. And believe about those people we be given to label with negatives such as as as as as "he's a jerk," or "she's a b_____." Besides the obvious struggle and misunderstanding such labels generate, the danger in using such superficial labels is that we get to see others as conceptions or things and handle them as such. We are not our jobs, our roles, our places in society, our depository financial institution balances, or any of a thousand other possible partial descriptors. We are human beingnesses not human behavior and we necessitate to be constantly reminded to see ourselves and others in much larger, more than generous terms.

This hebdomad I inquire for you to take some clip to ask yourself, "Who am I?" See if you can define yourself in footing of something besides your occupation verbal description or a certain grouping whose beliefs and members you place with. And acknowledge that no label, however wide or descriptive tin ever fully capture the unique, one-of-a-kind essence of you.

What's possible when we allow travel of limiting one-dimensional labels of ourselves and others? The reply to that was revealed in another illustration that came to my attending recently when I read an article about a adult male who had go a talented potter, basket-maker and creative person after having callings as a marine and police force officer. Nothing incorrect with either of those callings (marine or police force officer) unless you attach your full personal identity to them. Fortunately this adult male had seen beyond occupation verbal description labels of himself and was able to tap into a deep, originative reservoir that had been bubbling beneath the surface for years. Imagine the gifts that mightiness be unleashed on the human race when we get to see ourselves and everyone around us as unique, extraordinary creative activities with many gifts to share! Perhaps the most perfect gift we can give another is already correct under our noses...the gift that each of us unleashes when we allow travel of self-limiting verbal descriptions of who we are.

This hebdomad take a peep inside the box called "you" and see what unspoken hoarded wealths are waiting to be exposed when you make bold to give up the "job description" version of yourself . Go ahead, the human race is waiting for your gift.

And as always, bask the journey!

Quote of the Week:

"Up to a point, a man's life is shaped by his environment, heredity, and motions and alterations in the human race about him; then there come ups a clip when it lies within his appreciation to determine the clay of his life into the kind of thing he wishes to be . . . everyone have it within his powerfulness to say, this Iodine am today - that I shall be tomorrow."

~~Louis L'Amour