Who Am I?

You are 1 person among 7 billion;

On one planet, among 8 Planets;

Around one star, among 300 billion Stars;

In one galaxy, among 200 billion Galaxies;

You are Enormously Insignificant!

-Anonymous

This is the cosmic dome, the structure of all things, known and unknown to mankind. Of all the questions that exist in this cosmic dome, there is none more difficult than “Who am I?”.

Be it an interview, a form or just a random date asking you that, it is a question that never leaves you, rather, should never leave you till the end of your time.

You know what is so difficult about the answer to the question? It looks so easy! “Yeah, I know who I am. I was born there into the best family that the world has ever seen, grew up and went to the best school, had the best of friends, enjoyed the best college life and now enjoy the happiest life possible”.

That’s probably the answer you have in your mind when someone asks you, “who are you?” Really, is that you? Is that all you really are? Believe it or not, but we all tend to positively word the answer to this question. We conveniently include what we feel is great and ignore what is not. But be honest to yourself, have you ever sat down and thought about who you are? What makes you you? What is it that people actually like about you and what they desperately hate? More importantly, do you even know what you really like or not? If you haven’t ever given it serious thought, stop, take some time and then continue reading.

We cheat ourselves every day we don’t think about who we are. In this fast paced world, it is easy to get lost in what happens to you rather than focusing on what you do. How do you expect the world to get you, your friends to understand you, your family to accept you when you yourself haven’t accepted who you are?

The journey of life is the journey of discovering who you are and striving to be better. We all have innumerable flaws. Flaws the world sees in us. Flaws we see in ourselves. Flaws we want to fix because someone told us to or flaws we realized we need to get rid of. All of that starts with that one question.

So much of our time is spent hearing to what people think about us, how they perceive us and how they feel we should be. At times, when it is about a characteristic we don’t really know about ourselves, we don’t have any qualms in changing.

“Really, you don’t really think black looks good on me? I’ll change!”

The moment we know and have opinions about the characteristic that someone wants us to change, we go defensive!

“Black is my favorite color. Half my wardrobe is black, what do you mean I should change!!”

We all feel the need to protect ourselves and we should. After all there is only one of you that exists. It is only when we know ourselves that we can protect and improve ourselves. Imagine the number of times you let someone else decide for you, to influence you, to shape your thoughts or to even make you do things when you thought otherwise. It is easy to let people rule you when you don’t really know who it is they are ruling. But I know what you’re thinking. Not every person is manipulative right? Or that you know so much that you can’t be fooled!

So flip the situation and now think, how many people have you decided for, influenced, shaped or even manipulated for something you thought was right! We all have and we all will. That is what makes us human. It is in our DNA, survival of the fittest. If we think it is right, it must be done that way.

Yes, we need to protect ourselves but we also need to protect others from what we don’t know about our self. If the world’s as big, bad and ugly as you think it is, it is also what others think about the world that you live in. The world’s big, bad and ugly and for someone right now, you are unknowingly making it that way.

So what might seem a really simple question about who you are transcends into multiple facets. How you behave, what you do, why you do what you do all transpire from who you really are! If I told you the answer to all your anxiety, your stress, your happiness and your sorrow resides in the question “Who am I?” would you go back and think?

Read the cosmic dome once again, it only needs a change of perspective!

Among 200 billion galaxies, on one galaxy

Out of 300 billion stars, orbiting one star

Amongst 8 different planet, there is one planet

Where 7 billion people live but there is only one you.

You are Enormously Significant!

-Anonymous