Remember Who You Are
Today I would like to share an excerpt from my book, Your Personal Truth: A Journey to Discover Your Truth, Become Your True Self, & Live Your Truth.
Remember Yourself
“Remember who you are and where you come from; otherwise, you don’t know where you are going.”
— Karolína Kurková
How can we remember who we are? The best way to do this is to listen to your heart. Now the key is to consider what that means. Essentially, the real you is not what we see, nor all that you have been taught to think and do. There is a deeper part of yourself.
I believe many of us get used to going against our spirit, and we have to remember who we are. This is easier said than done.
I have come to think that part of our human journey is that we lose ourselves along the way. Many well-meaning people in our lives teach us so much that we may lose our core, authentic self in time. We develop obsessions—whether making money, seeking fame, having a perfect figure, or an addiction to buying stuff or playing games. This is where the world is steering us, away from ourselves.
The modern world is excellent at filling our lives with distractions that do not necessarily lead to a truthful, meaningful place.
Notice that animals have powerful drives, which we call instincts. To me, instinct is just knowing who you are. You know that when something happens, you react in a certain way, and you don’t need to question it because it is a deep drive inside yourself—it is you. Yet, when placed in zoos, animals start to lose their instincts. Animals that may have had a killer instinct can lose it. They can lose who they are, trapped behind bars. This is because the zoo is an artificial environment, holding back their true, wild selves.
Interestingly, I have come to think that humans also have a wild side that has been lost. It makes sense, of course, for society to avoid any part of ourselves that may cause havoc or violence, especially without any good reason. But as all animals have a wild side, and we are animals, perhaps we have this side to ourselves too, and it is neglected.
As part of our domestication on becoming human, we go to school and obey a teacher’s instructions. Then, later on, most of us go to work and obey our boss’s instructions. If we are promoted to management, we continue to follow the lead manager’s instructions. We are taught from the earliest phases in our lives that we must respect order. We are just a tiny puzzle piece in a much bigger puzzle.
If we had a wild side, we tended to lose it. But it’s not a matter of “if.” Just look at young children and how wild and carefree they can be. Perhaps without society to teach them to be civilized humans, they would have grown into wild adults.
Think back: If you stepped out of line in your youth at any time, someone was there to correct you and show you the error of your ways. I can still recall being a child and constantly hearing the words “single-file line.” Of course, in elementary school, teachers said this to remind us to walk in a precise, straight line on the way to the bathroom. They did not want to see disorder.
And so we learned to stay in line, to be orderly, follow instructions, and the wild parts of us were stamped out. Maybe some of this is good, but perhaps not all of it.
If we can learn to appreciate the wild nature in the world, why shouldn’t we enjoy it in ourselves? Why shouldn’t we appreciate the wild side of humanity? Must we follow the rules and instructions perfectly all of the time? You may explore such ideas as you figure out your truth.
Every day we are led along certain paths. Our teachers showed us that we had to follow their instructions as they reminded us to “stay in line.” We are adults now, but perhaps not much has changed. We don’t talk back to superiors, say something that could make someone feel uncomfortable, or laugh at inappropriate times. This is just what adults do (or don’t do).
Consider this: Do you deny parts of who you are just to follow the expected order? Is that order worth it? Or are you making a personal sacrifice?
If you choose to deny your true nature every day, you may eventually find that you do not know who you are anymore. You may have been following the paths others laid out for you for so long. For example, those paths the people around you believed to be good and encouraged you to go on. Perhaps all that this will accomplish is introduce falseness in your life and lead you away from your truth.
Ask yourself: Have I forgotten who I truly am? Have I been masquerading as someone that I am not? Am I an imposter in my own life?
No one can answer such questions except for you. Only you know if you are where you were meant to be. Even if you are not where you wanted to be, then the key question is whether you are doing everything you can to find that path that you were meant to be on.
Are you committed to being your true self? Is this something you are willing to struggle for? To take seriously? Or will you calmly lose the battle for yourself and allow your mind and body to be guided wherever the forces of the world happen to take you?
If you have forgotten who you were, how can you recapture yourself and remember? You may contact childhood friends or family members that you have not seen in a long time. Or you could get in touch with some lost beliefs, values, or desires that you had long ago and had set aside.
When was the last time that you felt completely free to be your true self? Were you a child? A teenager? A young adult? Was it decades ago, a few years ago, or months ago? Is it just on the weekends when you’re alone? Or does it only happen when you are around close friends and family?
Sometimes remembering isn’t enough, and you must get in touch with who you were, at that last point where you can recall having been your true self. Maybe you have lost touch with family—and you must visit them. Perhaps you have lost touch with a topic or activity you loved, and you must do this again. Or maybe you have denied a part of your personality to please someone, and it is time that you go back to being your true self.
Remembering who you are doesn’t just mean revisiting memories. It involves recapturing who you are for yourself. When you remember, you can find your true self inside yourself, in your mind, and then you will know the right path for you.
Key Questions (Remember Yourself)
Did you used to be a different person? If so, did you change for better or worse?
Do you find that pretending, lying, or exaggerating is a regular part of your life? If so, why are you covering up who you are?
When you were a child, what excited you the most? Do you still gain some pleasure in this?
Have you stifled a part of yourself that is wild, rebellious, or spontaneous to keep the peace?
Do you feel like the true you is different from what you have chosen to show the world?
Take Action Today (Remember Yourself)
Action: Consider the last time that you felt like things were going your way. You were happy, you were loved, or you felt generally fulfilled in life. Embrace this positive feeling that you had at that time in your life. Then, ask why you felt that way. Was it because of the people you had in your life? Was it because of a particular event that happened? Had you just achieved a life goal?
If you struggle to think of such a time, it could help to talk to an old friend to discuss some memories or to look through some old photos.
When you have your memory, relive the experience in your mind. Consider: did you have a positive feeling because you had so much potential then? Was it a simpler time? Were you more sure of what you wanted?
Is there a way to recapture that feeling? Instead of just recalling a memory, can you revisit a location that connects to your heart? Or can you contact people who inspired you or perform an activity you used to love but had given up on?
Reason: The goal here is simply to remember yourself. It’s easy to forget who we are and how we got to the point we are at now. Sometimes, we need to step back and remember when things were going our way and we felt like our true selves.
Tip: Instead of just reconnecting with an experience in your mind, can you recreate it? Can you play the music that reminds you of a time and place? If something inspired you in the past, can you draw from that same source once again?
If you are interested in reading more of Your Personal Truth, the book is available on Amazon and other major retailers.