Who are you and why are you here? It may seem like a straightforward question. Most would answer by giving their name without giving it much thought. However, on deeper reflection, do you really understand who you are?
Our world today has one great irony that is mind-boggling: the majority of people in the world are trying very hard to conform to what someone else wants them to be. It is often so subtle that we fail to realise that that is what we are doing. As Sarah McLachlan points out: “We’re constantly being told what other people think we are, and that’s why it is so important to know yourself.”
It happens at many levels. For instance, television bombards us with images of how we should look and dress, what we should eat and drink, what car we should drive and even what kind of person we should marry. Some even go as far as telling us how to fall in love!
We look around us for things that will help us define who we are. In-fact the majority of people have no sense of identity apart from th
e clothes they wear, the car they drive, where they live, who they are married to and so on.
If we had to strip you of everything you own and leave you on some island away from everything you think defines you, would you still have a clear sense of who you are? What defines you?