Who Are You?

Finding yourself

Everyone tells us we need to get to know ourselves. “Find yourself” they will say.

Getting to know ourselves can be a difficult and painful process.

You see, it doesn’t just mean finding the good stuff. And, there is a lot of good in each of us. There is love, compassion, intuition, awareness, generosity, peace, charity… to name a few.

Finding out who and what we are in the world, to ourselves, and to each other is a huge step forward in most of our lives. We stop being tiny imitations of our parents.

It also means that we stop hiding behind the masks we use, and engage ourselves in the full frontal mirror of life, and not turn away.

Noah

There was a man considered noble and faithful to God, named Noah. Important part of this text is found in Genesis 9

Recap / Cliff Notes - Everyone knows the story of Adam and Eve, and how humanity sunk rapidly into the depths of moral decay. When God saw the wickedness, He decided to destroy everything and start over. He saved one family from the great Flood in the Ark, Noah and his family.

Back on dry lane, Noah plants a vineyard, and gets drunk…

Noah did a great service to God and mankind, but his ending was not good. Underneath this life of faith and sacrifice was an alcoholic.

In the last few verses of this chapter Noah is disgraced by one of his sons.

Knowing yourself

I come from a family with a large number of alcoholics. It would be a lie to tell myself that I don’t have a genetic predisposition and potential for alcoholism. This is a predisposition which would be passed on to my children.

Knowing this about myself demands of me that I make certain conscious and conscientious choices about my behaviors and my surroundings.

These weren’t always obvious choices, especially when I was a teenager. But as the old saying goes, “Thank God I had a praying mother.”

As I moved toward adulthood, and what I saw as my destiny, it became more important to get to know myself well. It became imperative to understand my “talents” as well as my limitations. And these are messages that I have tried to share with my own children.

I have been fortunate. I have been able to use some of that potentially destructive addictive behavior, and turn it towards good. I have been able to harness some of that energy for my benefit, and for the benefit of others. But I know it for what it is.

The key is in the knowing.

What we choose today, and every day, has an impact on today as well as on our futures. Yes, by all means, live in the “now.” Seize the day, and seize the moment. Expect great things from your future. But pay attention…

Learn who you are.

Learn who you are when everyone is around. And, find out who you are when you are by yourself.
Know who you are. Understand what you can and cannot do. Know the roads you can and cannot traverse.

“ Know yourself.

Know why you’ve come.

Do that…well!”

Do you know yourself?

How can you use that knowledge in a better way?



Photo credit 1: http://www.flickr.com/photos/63894760@N00/2755679203/

Photo crdit 2: http://www.flickr.com/photos/jesuscm/3222567400/sizes/m/in/photostream/