Who Are You?
“If I am not I, Who will Be?” – Henry David Thoreau
Knowing who you are is the most important thing you can know about yourself. Do you know what sets you apart from other people? What is unique about you? The purpose of this website is to discover those gifts and in so doing, to discover your purpose.
For many these gifts are buried underneath piles of “shoulds”, “don’ts” and “who do you think you are’s.” They are buried beneath inherited ideas of who we are “supposed” to be and what others have told us to be. Few of us enjoy the freedom and support, in our formative years, to discover ourselves. Why bother? Who says I don’t know myself? Before answering those questions — you might want to think about these: Am I happy? Am I healthy? Am I successful? The answer to these questions is in some measure how well you know yourself. Happiness, health, and success are important indicators of how well you know yourself and how much you are able to be yourself.
When you are being yourself, your desires, needs and talents are aligned with your purpose and you are automatically successful on your own terms and by your own definition. Truly successful people are happy, in fact, happiness is the only measure of true success. Success and happiness also eliminate unnecessary stress, emotional strain and “dis-ease” from your life and so you will also be healthier. Knowing yourself and acting on that knowledge brings more joy and peace into your life .
So how do you get started? Self-exploration is a life long journey – an unavoidable journey. As a living being, you are automatically on this path. But, there are ways to speed up the process — to accelerate the understanding — to become more aware of your individual gifts and how best to share them with others. The first step is the simple recognition that you are unique. There is no one in the universe with your talents, desires and abilities. There is no one with your gifts and life purpose. No one can give the world what you can give.
Only you can reveal to yourself and to the world what those gifts and those abilities are. It is the very nature of your uniqueness that no one else can tell you who you are — no one else can define you — no one else can make your choices. It is only for you to make those choices. That is the nature of your free will — the very nature of your ability to create. By making choices, and shaping your self-image, you create yourself both now and in the future. No one else does this or can do this for you. That is solely your right and privilege. But just because you have the right and power of self- definition and self-creation doesn’t mean that you understand that power or use it consciously as it is intended to be used.
All too often we let others define us and by accepting their definition we make it so! Unfortunately, their definition will not make us happy.
Have you ever seen the movie City Slickers? With Billy Crystal and Jack Palance? Billy plays a disenchanted advertising executive who is persuaded by his friends and wife to take a vacation on a western dude ranch in hopes of regaining his zest for life. There he meets Jack Palance, a crusty, old and scary trail leader and they take an immediate disliking to each other. After a series of adventures Billy and Jack finally develop a mutual respect and even grow to like each other. At this point, Jack tells Billy he knows the meaning of life.
So what is so special about you? and who exactly are you? What is your one thing? The simple answer to all three of these questions is, believe it or not, the same. And that is … you are what you like. In fact more precisely, you are what you love. What you love is what makes you unique and that is what gives your life meaning. No one else has your unique pattern of loves and likes. No one else sees the world quite the same way you do.
What you are attracted to creates and shapes your world. It defines your meaning in life. You become what you love, in fact, you are what you love. Your unique pattern of love gives your life its particular meaning and purpose…not only for you but for everyone around you. For now just take this on faith … If you can find what you love, than you have found yourself and you have found your meaning in life.
But finding what you love is not always so easy. It is often buried beneath layers of what others say you should love or what you think you love. Love is ultimately an experiential not an intellectual thing. Sometimes the only way to find out what you really love is by doing it. So to discover your life purpose, we are going to explore what you love (or more commonly what you like). And from all of your loves (and likes) we are going to look for the unique patterns that belong to you alone. From these, we are going to find your “one thing” — your life purpose.
Just to get warmed up, let’s take a few minutes to write down something that you feel is special or unique about you. What makes you different from anyone else you know? It might be the hats you wear or the way you brush your teeth. It might be some secret dream or fantasy. Maybe it is a particular skill or hobby … whatever. Just write down something for now (as much as you like). You can always come back later and expand on this list when other things occur to you.
I Am Unique Because …
Finding Your Purpose
This Website is actually a course … a course for the discovery of your hidden talents, your inner passion and your unique path to success and happiness. You have just completed Lesson 1 — Who Are You? There are two sections and thirteen more lessons in this course. They are easy and fun to complete … Enjoy!