Who's me?
Last Tuesday, as one resident left our group early to head to his college statistics class:
The resident: “Drive safely.”
Me: “Thanks. You walk safely.”
Another resident: “Yeah, because it’s full of criminals out there.”
Hahaha! What a reminder. These prison residents indeed live surrounded by criminals.
This reality can be easy to forget when we have the conversations and explorations like the ones that fill our circles.
For example, earlier, a resident explained that, to remain safe as a young boy, he lived by the belief that “The more people like me, the less they’ll hurt me.”
Among other questions, we asked: Which “me”? Who’s the “me” that people are to like?
We often use “me” thinking we know exactly whom we’re speaking about. But do we really?
So, we explored who “me” is and found:
The various “me”’s as perceived by others – Others see us with certain characteristics, influenced not just by what we project but also by their own filters
The various “me”’s that we project – So many of us showcase a different persona in a management presentation, with our kids, at the local bar, at a networking event…
The various “me”’s we hold as our identity – We may see ourselves as a gentle mother, a badass boss, a decent surfer, and also a sexual abuse survivor
In addition to moving instantaneously between “me”’s, most of us are not even aware of the “me” we are being at any given time. Plus, all these “me”’s shift and change with time, experiences, wounds and growth.
So … who’s “me”?
There is one “me” that’s the “me” of all “me”’s. And that’s our brilliance, the complete, whole, immutable “me” that is our essence, our spirit, our higher self, our light, who God perfectly made us to be, whom we were always meant to be.
While the other “me”’s are dependent on our circumstances and react to our environment, our brilliance never is and never does. We shine our brilliance when we allow the other “me”’s to take a backseat to our brilliance’s inspiration and direction. In this brilliance, we are authenticity, clarity, peace, joy, love and power.
And from here, you – as always – have a choice: (1) to allow the various “me”’s to rule your thoughts, words and actions or (2) to thank these various “me”’s for their service and place them under the leadership and guidance of your brilliance.