Host
Elaine Freeman
Podcast Content
The answer to the question "Who am I?" is fluid, changing and stable over time. This consciousness can bring us to an awareness that our identities are diverse and shifting, that we are fluid and that there are many different ways in which we are seen and others see us, but that they are not usually one and the same.
If the answer is God, if we know ourselves and consider ourselves God's precious children, the core of what we are is beyond doubt. If we truly and inexplicably understand the urge to be at our core, we will be able to live a more fulfilling life. We can help others to know that we have value and dignity, and we can help ourselves to know our value, our dignity.
The ability to witness our thoughts, not to react in old habits, to become present, enables us to better shape our lives. The ability to witness thoughts and not react to older habits and become present allows me to better shape my life.
Before we start the activity, we ask students to consider what categories people use to define themselves. Select a feature from the identity chart and write down why it is an important part of the definition of who you are. Look at the traits of each personality type and see what motivates your head, heart and gut. Besides this blog about the Enneagram, I strongly recommend you to visit the Enne Diagram Institute for more information about personality types and quizzes.
By the way, let us say, for example, that you have a new purpose or interest in life. How different would your life be if you were not asking yourself what you are like, but thinking about how you want to deal with life? How different is life for you when you ask yourself: "How do you want to live? " Or "Instead of asking what I am, am I like" or thinking about how I would like to "get involved"?
I appreciate what I'm learning, but I also want to grow in all areas of my life, and I prefer that. There is nothing wrong with considering prayer as an occasional cry for help to God, or even as a regular part of your daily life.
We need to be honest with ourselves to know who we are, and the first step to finding the answer to who you are is to find out the parts of yourself that you never knew about. When you find out what it is, you will be able to find the answers to what you really are. You have to recognise your thoughts and emotions, fully acknowledge the things you believe in, have a clear mind "What am I looking forward to," and get rid of the part of you that is not honest.
I can say with all my heart that these steps are invaluable in finding out who you really are, and not just the parts of yourself that you didn't know. What makes the search for one's true self difficult is that it will not always be pleasant, and it happens because most of us simply do not know who we are. We have no clear sense of self, and the people close to us feed on our lies about our identity, put ourselves on a pedestal, and make us feel useless.
The truth is that the only thing that can make you feel good is your own mind, and if you make decisions that are in line with your values and desires, you can start to feel empowered to find your true identity.
If you don't find it, you miss life and feel worthless and helpless in a life you can't control. You will be happy if your identity is based on having the right things, but if you slip on one or more of them, your self-worth will plummet depending on the significance of the loss. If you are not who you are, other identities will come and ultimately go and only Jesus is what you have. Once you have found yourself, you will not only have the absolute certainty of being yourself, but also of being other people.
The irony is that the more you try to identify yourself for what you are, the more insecure and fragile you feel. The irony is that the more vulnerable you feel and the greater the risk of self-destruction and loss of identity, the more likely you are to be sought by those who identify as yourself.
When we realize that nothing measures the safety and well-being of our loved ones, we know something more. Sometimes it is about seeing the lies we pin on our skin into the fiction of others about us, and sometimes it is about writing ourselves off.