Who are you and why is it important to know who you are? I say. When I look in the mirror, I see what everybody else sees when they look at me; an old man. But when they look at me, they can’t hear, feel or smell the same things that I hear, feel or smell. Others can only see the physical form. They think I am an old man because that is what their eyes see. If they believe what they see, they do not need to ask.
Why is it important to know who you are? Because another’s opinion is not fact, but still an influential force. It can have a detrimental effect on our lives if we don’t trust ourselves. Confidence from understanding ourselves makes us less dependent and protects us from dangerous outside opinion.
We come from nothing, we are going back to nothing-In the end what have we lost? Nothing!
Graham Chapman
The man with the Child in his Eyes
But when I look out from behind these eyes, I am as a child. I see the same things a child sees, and I see a new world-changing day by day. There are new sounds, and I feel new things. I smell new smells, and I see new opportunities. Nothing is old. Everything is here, now. Everything is new and fresh. I may think I am not an old man when I look out. So who am I?
Who are you? The Old Person or the Child
Unlike the child I have memories. So, when I look at an office block, I can recall the old cinema that once stood there, or the bombed out shells of derelict buildings where I played as a child, after the war.
I can remember the sounds of the early technicolour movies. I can feel the rubble of the derelict buildings crumbling under my feet. But my eyes, like the lens of my camera, capture exactly what the child sees. The pristine modern glass-fronted office block with landscaped gardens.
So who am I? Who is this person who looks like an old man from the outside and sees as a child from the inside? Am I the old man everyone else sees, or am I still the child behind the eyes, viewing a world of endless wonder and opportunity?
Why is it important to know who you are?
When you learn how to get to know yourself better and you have the confidence of knowing who you are, what others say is of little or no consequence, because you are our own person, capable of making decisions that are right for you.
We depend on relationships, and the more complicated man becomes, the more important those relationships are. No-one is truly independent may sound like a contradiction to what I have said earlier. But it is relative. The Neanderthals were more independent than we are today because they needed much less to survive, and their lives were short. We rely on the skills of so many others to carry out our daily functions and stay healthy.
Knowing who you are is a fundamental building block in life. Because without knowing who you are, you may become depressed and wonder where you are . So, it will be extremely difficult to get to know others.
Parting Thoughts
And who are you? What will you do for the world? What will you leave behind?
Is there something you really want to do. Reflect on it and do it now before it’s too late.
Leave a part of yourself with every hello and every goodbye, for an impoverished bank account is better than an impoverished mind.
Do the best you can, and you will have achieved far more than most men have ever done.
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Hi Cinda. Haven’t heard from you in a while. Hope you are safe and well and glad you liked this post. I’m trapped on Phuket Island finishing off Alfie Goes to Thailand series. Haven’t been out for 3 days. How are things with you?
I like this! (No “like” buttons?)
Spot on Erik. It is so easy to look outside yourself for answers which only lie within.
Eventually Erik. In my own way. I’d thought about it so many times before I wrote the post but it wasn’t actually the inspiration. That came from living in SE Asia where people are constantly asking ‘How old are you?’ and thinking – ‘They don’t know but how sure am I?’.
That video peddles the same old delusions. If you keep trying you will succeed in worldly terms. The mess the world is in is because people think in terms of competition, winning, making money and working against nature. Is this why you posted the video Jamoroki? It is a good way of getting your readers to think for themselves!
Ah, ha! So you DID get round to the bard’s seven ages!