Discover YOUR Answer

Who Are You, Really?

If that question evokes a feeling of discomfort, or a “huh!?” You are not alone.

There is something oddly unusual about this rather provocative question. Yet it’s one of the most important questions you will ever answer.

What is your reaction to this question

For me, as I am moving further and faster toward the finish line than I have even been before (aren’t we all) I ask myself this question and a couple of others frequently sometimes daily.

Who am I?

Who am I being now?

Who am I becoming?

I remember very vividly where I was the first time I was ever seriously asked this question. Sitting in my hairdresser’s chair sipping on a glass of wine and Queen Donna Lee Robertson struck a serious tone and said,“If I was to ask you who are you - who would you say you are?”

I remember my answer was not what she expected, because I didn’t define myself by any of the roles or responsibilities that I played. I had been on a quest for TRUTH that had taken me to Thailand, Bali, Mexico and most recently to the Amazon Jungle and a pilgrimage of sorts to Machu Picchu. It was there I discovered just how little I trusted myself. And with good reason.

Because I wasn’t living in alignment with my values - I don’t think I would have been able to clearly articulate my values authentically. I was living somebody else’s.

And if I could’ve answered my own unspoken prayer at the time it would have been “How am I going to get myself out of here?”

Here being encapsulated by values, expectations and ideas of who I should be, rather than who God created me to be.

Indoctrination happens to us all, and its subliminal - embedded in our culture. Think back to your earliest school days and a question your teacher and other adults might have ask you and even what you may ask your own children or grandchildren, “What do you want to be when you grow up?”

Five year olds are asked that question and they have learned to have an answer.

Sadly today the most common answer of children is to “be famous”. They are quick learners of what the society values.

But the what is insignificant compared to the who.

My friend Gail once bought me a piece of art that has the words of Carl Jung inscribed in it “Who looks outside dreams, who looks inside awakes.”

It takes willingness and work and another human being to actually do that. It’s not a solo endeavor.

This is what I love about coaching - I get to walk beside people who are bravely taking the path of self examination and discovery.

Because that is the promise of self examination - you will discover.

So, if you don’t know the answer to that question right now, or you are not completely confident it is YOUR answer, don’t be afraid of not knowing.

But do take the time to make the necessary journey to find out.

It is one of the most important and transformative questions you will ever answer.