Identity Is Empty

Who are you? Where are you from? What do you do? What’s your religious faith? What type of car do you drive? From which university you graduated? Where do you live? Are you married? How many kids? How come you don’t have kids yet? Is everything ok? What’s your job title? Have you travelled? What’s your plans?

I think I covered the majority of questions that get asked on a regular basis throughout the different phases of life. The answers to these questions will normally begin with I am, I have and I did something in particular. While you are making such statements, you are identifying yourself as that thing that follows the “I”. That thing is your identity.

Now let’s break it down. If you were to pretend that this thing you are describing yourself with wasn’t the case – then who are you without it? Can you recognize yourself if you weren’t that or didn’t do that or don’t have that thing.

Are you still YOU if all those ‘descriptions’ were different? Or would you feel lost and confused. The question to ask here, are you attached to your external world that your identity depends on what’s outside of you more than what’s inside of you?

Some deep questions and provoking thoughts. I know. I asked those questions to myself and I understand how it feels as you try to make sense of everything. In fact, it has nothing to do with making sense. It’s clear as night and day.

I am who I am regardless of anything else. I do not identify with any of the above-mentioned points. It doesn’t matter which country I was born in or where I live. It doesn’t matter if I finished post-secondary school or which one I graduated from. The color of my skin, the texture of my hair or any superficial criteria. All of this, has nothing to do with WHO I AM.

It doesn’t matter if I am married, single, divorced or widowed, have children of my own, fostering, adopting or not. Whether by choice or by circumstance. These are all part of life’s journey. Choices are made. Events occur that sometimes are out of one’s control.  And that becomes our experience. It does not identify me in any way.

It doesn’t matter if I am working as a cleaner, garbage collector, bus driver, security guard, sales rep, travel agent, receptionist, farmer, manager, CEO or owner of some business. That’s just what I do. Whether it’s by choice because I enjoy it or I just need an income to live and support my family. None of these roles identify me. It has nothing to do with WHO YOU I AM.

As for possessions, things I use on a daily basis. They are simply tools to get things done and to go from one place to the next. A Porsche will take me from point A to point B just as a Kia will. A huge mansion is a place where I sleep, eat, shower and experience life with whatever it brings my way, just as a small one bedroom in an apartment building or even a little hut will. Indeed, the experience will differ based on technology available and tools for day-to-day living. Nonetheless, I live just the same. Luxury has been confused with necessity. Slavery has been traded for comfort.

Here is what I know, the sun that comes up every morning and the moon that brightens every night is the same no matter where I live, the type of work I do, the type of car I drive, how much money I make and the lifestyle I live. These things do not identify ME in any way.

Whether you travel or not. By choice or due to circumstances does not identify anyone either. Whether you get to experience a luxury vacation on a boat cruise, fly first class or if you have a private jet. Whether you wear brand name clothing or ones made by your mother’s hands and a sewing machine. It’s all clothes. Fashion, trends and luxury materials do no identify you. Luxury experiences versus humbled ones do not identify you.

You can be just as happy, sometimes enjoy more, a picnic by the seaside or a bond fire. Laughter, pure joy and real connections can be the outcome of a small gathering in your home town. These experiences big or small also do not identify you. They are simply that … experiences.

It’s amazing isn’t it? Once you break it all down. You realize that NOTHING can identify you. NOTHING!!

Everything is just an experience. And YOU are the one experiencing them. No matter humble or luxurious. It’s a matter of perception. You interpret things by choice. And based on your interpretations, whether they are your own or influenced by society’s conditioning, you end up in the emotional and psychological state where you tell YOURSELF: “that’s who I am”.

In turn, identifying with the story you TELL YOURSELF about YOURSELF.

Read that last line again. Let it sink in. Let it be an AHHAA moment. Let it be an opportunity to shift your perception and CHOOSE AGAIN.

Yes, you can choose again regardless of your age and circumstance. A radical shift in perspective will change your experience and ultimately your perceived reality.

“Life is what you make it.”

Life is what you make as you embrace everything that comes into your experience. Rather than fighting it, work with it. Rather than hating it, see the lesson behind it. Life is an experience. Every day when you open your eyes, you get the opportunity to choose who you want to be.

Do you choose to identify yourself with all your surroundings and experiences?

Are you going to allow the circumstances to dictate WHO YOU ARE?

Who you are is much deeper and profound than you can possibly imagine. I cannot tell you who you are. Only you know. The answer lies within. Get still. Ask the question. Listen. You know who you are. You just have to listen. That’s when it will all become clear.

Identity is Empty.

It’s only a facade. Move past it. You are much more than that.