Who Am I? Am I Who I Really Am or Who I Think I Am?

Who am I? Who are you? What are you? Do you know?

The bride gracefully walked down the aisle in absolute eloquence. There were tears in his eyes as he stole glances at his bride. He couldn’t believe that this day would ever come. Now it’s here. At the altar, they stared into each other’s eyes. They were so much in love: Everything felt so surreal. Nothing could possibly go wrong. It was an atmosphere of ecstatic love. Everyone could see two people getting married but in reality, they were six. Who the bridegroom is, who the bridegroom thinks he is, who the bride thinks the bridegroom is, who the bride is, who the bride thinks she is and who the bridegroom thinks she is.

Who are you? No, I’m not asking of your name. Who are you? No, I’m not asking of your position. Who are you? No, I didn’t ask what your nationality was. Who are you? No, I didn’t ask what species you belong to. Who are you? No, I didn’t ask what your beliefs are. So you see? “Who am I?” is a question you should be in no hurry to answer. It’s a question that should leave you in deep thought.

This is the reality of life. If who you are met who you think you are, the two wouldn’t recognize each other. Who others think you are is a different ballgame altogether. We know for sure that who others think we are is obviously different from who we are. But it will shock you to know that who you are is not even who you think you are. It takes a lifetime to fully discover who we really are. At a particular time where you think you’ve actually figured out who you are, you are going to do something that will shock you. It will shake the foundations of the built-up image you have of yourself. Then you’ll question yourself subconsciously for the one-millionth time, “so who am I?”

Who you are is equally as important as who you think you are. If you know how the universe works, you’ll understand that you’re already who you are. Everything that makes you who you are meant to be is already inside you. Do you understand? Just like the I Am, you are. You Are Who You Are. Who you are is not in the future or in the past. It is yesterday, today and forever.

Moreover, You Are also Who You Are Not. It is equally important. Not just in the sense that you’re not a liar, thief or murderer. Come to the understanding that you cannot be everything. Some things are just not meant for you. You can only be great in your lane. If you don’t find your lane, you can really struggle. As a matter of fact, Albert Einstein said it better, “Everyone is a genius. But if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing that it is stupid”.

So if who I am never changes like the “I Am That I Am”, why am I different from who I was in the past? It’s because we live from who we think are, not who we are. That is why who we think we are is equally as important as who we are. It is who you think you are that keeps changing. If you think you’re a failure just because you failed a couple of times, don’t be surprised if you live the life of a failure. The fruit doesn’t fall far from the tree.

Your goal is to make sure that “who you think you are” is as close to “who you really are” as much as possible. I’m not saying be narcissistic and overlook toxic areas of your life. Do not see yourself bigger than you really are. Rather see yourself become bigger than who you think you are. After all, who you think you are and who you really are will never be the same. We all have blind spots. Some aspects of our lives can be hidden from us for a very long time.

This is one of the major reasons why people continue to live in the past; they’ve not been able to figure out their reactions and triggers. It’s like we can only understand ourselves when we look back. Our mind uses the past to understand the future. It looks like it’s the only way to understand yourself. Yet, it also means who you think you are is not up-to-date. It’s always stuck in the past. You are who you are right now.

Even so, today I want you to sit down and write 25 sentences about what you think about yourself. Choose 5 people close to you who give you honest feedback and ask them to tell you 5 different ways of how you’re like. Compare it to who you think you are and see if you’re on the same page. This will give you a fair idea of how you portray yourself and how others perceive you. In addition, you can also ask them how you ought to be from their point of view. Sometimes we limit ourselves as a form of humility when it’s actually pride. Honest feedback can remove blind spots and break down those walls.

How you live your life is not shaped by who you are, it is shaped by who you think you are. Embrace it and use it to your advantage.

I love you ❤️