For many years, I lived my life with a very false idea of who I was. I definitely went through an “identity crisis” starting in my earlier teens that bled well into my later twenties.
Always trying to be “perfect,” yearning to fit into some ideal box so that I can feel like I belong, and accomplishing certain things to make myself feel worthy and important were some of the things I did to find a sense of identity.
Who I thought I was, was so far from the truth that I began to live with a lot of anxiety, inner confusion, and a deep feeling of not belonging.
So I went on searching for answers, trying to find a deeper truth, knowing deep down inside that this couldn’t be IT. There was more to life than just this fearful, anxious, and confused way of being.
And thank god I did, because I discovered the source of my anxiety. The source of my anxiety came from the idea that my worth, my importance and who I am is defined by what I do, how I look, and who I am in the eyes of the world. I realized that these definitions of “who we are” are very much flawed and that essentially, I am a spiritual, eternal, and abundant being.
Being attached to all of these different ideas of who we think we are is what creates our anxieties and fears in the first place. The more attached we become to these false identities, the more our egos or “false selves” get strengthened, and the harder it becomes to break free.
So it is ESSENTIAL that you realize that even though these identities are part of your life, they are not the core of your being. They are not who you truly are.
15 Things That Do Not Define Who You Are
1. Your past
You are not defined by what happened to you, where you came from, what your story is, where you grew up, what kind of parents you had, how you were raised and what you did in your past. You are not the college dropout, the troublemaker son, the poor girl, the foreigner, the bully, the victim, the failing student, the fat girl, the skinny boy, the weirdo, the orphan or the abused child. You are not the person you used to be, and you are not the person that the world labeled a certain way. These experiences made you stronger, wiser, and more resilient, but it is not who you are. You gotta let it go and look at yourself with fresh eyes every day.
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