Looking for Our Identity

Sayen Antil, Chile

What makes me be me? Do I have an answer for that?

Identity is by definition the distinguishing character or personality of an individual, so I’ve been thinking which things about myself make me who I am. For me, it’s a struggle, but why? Why is it so hard to think of all those things? I think its mostly because when we are trying, aspects of us that we have denied arise. But what we should do about it? Just stop trying and continue living like we have been?

I started reading many different quotes of different philosophers  or even current writers. The psychologist, Camen Duran, said that changing our being is changing our lives,  but changing our lives is not changing our being. At first I didn’t get it, but when I did, I thought about changing  the way we live for changing ourselves is just a transitory change, mostly because our inner struggles will keep coming back to our lives.

So where am I heading to with all of these? I want to know myself, and I am going to do it through these steps. First of all, I’ll stop comparing myself with others. Everyone does this to try to know themselves, but this is actually the worst thing to do, because we get so distracted in trying to be someone else. Maybe it’s good to look up to someone, but we’ll do this without losing our true identity,  trying to be the best version of ourselves.  I’ll be objective, if I refuse to accept some of the things I don’t like about myself, I won’t know what kind of person I truly am. I’ll try my best to identify my emotions and act according to them, that way I’ll know what  my character is like.

Once you identify how are you, you’ll be able to identify others. It will help you to improve your relationship with yourself and therefore, improve it with everyone around you. And let’s keep it honest, when you are happy with the environment of your interpersonal relationships, your entire life feels so much better because good relationships are the basis of a good, happy life. So knowing yourself, in other words, can lead you to live a fulfilling life.