As a student in school, I used to despise being asked to write essays on “Who Am I?”. I somehow never had a definitive answer to that. Being an average student with average skills in almost every activity I undertook, this question often threw me towards the deep end, opening up questions that my young mind was just not adept at answering.
I was not particularly sharp when it came to academics. While I had several hobbies that I picked up and left mid-way for multiple reasons. I was (or should I say am) no prolific singer, dancer, comic, cook, artist or sports person.
I had also observed how contradicting my personality was in different contexts. I used to be afraid of public speaking but won almost every recitation competition conceivable by Chinmaya Mission. I hung out with the largest group of friends at school but equally preferred solitude. I was barely ambitious (teachers referred to me as “complacent”) but never gave up.
As these thoughts loom in my head, I noticed that the paper titled “Who Am I?” still remained blank. It made me wonder if maybe I just never had a personality, to begin with.
Years later I realized just how ridiculous my thoughts were. The thought to define yourself as something is limiting at its core and leaves no room for development. In the last 27 years of my life, I have been an outspoken extrovert and a reserved introvert. I love socializing with like-minded people, but at the same time cherish the rumination and reflection of my thoughts by myself. I am candid when needed, quiet when my opinion is not required, livid when triggered. I seek adventure, I seek peace. I love traveling, I love coming back home. I am all of them and nothing at all.
“Because you are alive, everything is possible”
Thich Nhat Hanh
The realization that we as humans could be a universe of possibilities with every passing second came in like a resounding echo. The freedom to believe that you can be just about anything you want or need to be is liberating. So go on and seize the day to and let go of those mental boundaries limiting your belief on who you are and how you do things. Be open to the limitless universe for everything you can be and cherish the magic that unfolds.
