Who Do You Think You Are? Part 5
September 13, 2025
Who Do You Think You Are? Part 5
Who do you think you are? It sounds like a simple question, yet it may be the most important one we ever consider. Some souls wander through life without ever truly knowing who they really are. They recognize they have a body, emotions, and a mind. Many even know that they have a soul. But few are consciously connected to many of their deeper qualities, so they cannot describe them.
Referred to as soul, or essential qualities, such as compassion, resilience, courage, wisdom, purpose, the capacity to grow, the ability to love and be loved, and more, are not just words, they are the timbers of our being. And the descriptions of these qualities are sometimes beyond words; the qualities themselves can be preverbal in origin, and so deep that words only point to them. We know we have that quality in our depths. The life of the ego can separate us from our essential soul qualities. But when we know and re-embody them, we have the wholeness of a conscious life.
To know who we are is to recognize both our strengths and our places of growth. Our strengths are not only on the ego level where we develop our personality and life skills. More profoundly, our greatest strengths are in the soul qualities that express the Divine. At the same time, we must also recognize that we still need to grow and progress. This is not a one-time discovery but a lifelong unfolding. Every day on the path of self-understanding, we experience new depths of who we are.
If we do not know who we really are, instead of living our lives, life can simply live us. We may reach the end before we know it. Yes, our lives can be consumed like coke through a soda straw, before we know it. But there is another way: instead of letting life live us, we can live life. Instead of dealing with whatever comes our way, and letting that be the course of our lives, we can live our lives consciously. In conscious awareness, we live in each present moment and that makes each moment longer.
Each present moment’s arisings have their own pearls that cannot be quickly passed over. Each happening has a significance. Each second has its own wonder and potential to love and be loved. In experiencing life in conscious presence, we actually extend our lives, not in years but in depth.
When grounded in who we truly are, we co-create with the Great Creator. Life opens and deepens, step by step, and we find ourselves fully taking part in the great unfolding.
Spiritual practice: Describe yourself. Who do you think you are? Write about your capacities, your soul qualities, your hopes, your fears, your places of growth, and your sense of purpose. What was it like to gather this together? Did anything surprise you? Do you have more of an idea of who you are as a whole?
Self-inquiry: If the journey of self-discovery never ends, what does that say about the mystery of who we are?
Prayer: Dear God, help me live in every moment today. Open my eyes to each moment’s wonder, wisdom, and inspiration. Let me welcome the unfolding of your divine plan. And when that plan does not match my own desires, grant me the grace to surrender. Amen.
