Do You Know Who You Are?

 I have discovered something in my years of working with people. We have this strong desire to protect ourselves, our ego is very fragile. The person we are most afraid of is often ourselves. We are really scared of hurting our own psyche, and so we protect ourselves by lying to ourselves. Most people don't really know themselves. Here is a little test you can take.

First off, ask yourself, what types of movies do you like? What types of TV shows? What types of music? Have a good list? Good, now why are those your favorite? What things are triggered in you to make you like those things? What causes you to choose the people you call friends? What makes you like the colors you enjoy? What shapes your outlook? Most people have no idea why they like the things they like or see the world the way they do.

Want to go deeper? What are you really afraid of? What really gives you joy? What is the best thing in your life? What things in your life do you need to change or get rid of to live a better life? These are hard questions for most of us, we struggle to really know who we are, or more importantly, what drives and motivates us.

The problem with this is we seldom grow on our own to be better people. Most of the time, if we do improve it is because someone else pushes us. We need people who can see the things in us that we can't (or won't) see in our own lives. We need parents, teachers, leaders, bosses, managers, pastors, friends, and colleagues to really help us see who we really are. We need to acknowledge the fact that we lie to ourselves in order to protect ourselves. We wear a mask, we make-believe with ourselves. We try to pretend we are more than we are. . . to ourselves. Don't be afraid to admit you are flawed and broken. Don't be afraid you admit you can be better, and don't be afraid to try. The biggest and scariest step can be the step of being honest with yourself. Maybe it's time to take a moment to get to know the real you.