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Struggling with Identity
Do I know who I am? Is this who I want to be? What does this even mean, and how do I reconcile it?
Because you and I live in a fear-based society, we are constantly presented with all sorts of negatives that pull us out of the now. Constantly looking backward fondly to a past that never truly existed and getting depressed about its passing; at the same time, looking forward anxiously towards potential futures that could be thoroughly unpleasant.
As Lao Tzu said,
“If you are depressed you are living in the past. If you are anxious you are living in the future. If you are at peace you are living in the present.”
Is it any wonder that peace is so hard to come by? I am not talking about planetary peace between nations and cultures, I mean individual peace. Your ability and my ability to feel peaceful, to be calm, to be present in the now. Fear, wielded like a weapon by so many, is constantly pulling you and me from the present, and as a result, from attaining peace.
One of the backlashes that come of this is figuring out your identity. The answer to the question of “Who are you?” may have a superficial answer, but the full and complete answer is probably much more complex. Maybe that’s not the case for…
