Did you know you are not your job?
Many of us begin to identify ourselves with what we do. Do you ever notice in casual conversation how people’s questions usually start with: what to do you do? Our parents so eagerly encouraged us to go out there and get a good education and secure a good job. This way you can identify with something, e.g., I am a doctor or a banker. My lesson for the day is that you are not your job. You are you. You are unique and when you identify yourself as only an extension of your occupation, you short change your identity.
We may find ourselves in a job for reasons that are not our own. Your parents encourage you, or you fell in to it and thought you had no other option. Wherever you may find yourself on the road of life, know this—you are not your job! You can do anything you put your mind to. You are a unique human being and the one common thread we have is the choice to think. If you can think it, you can do it. What have you got to lose? Nothing, everything, both. When you explore the possibilities within yourself you will find them to be unlimited.
However I understand the need to identify with something. We all have an inherent need to be aligned with something. Therefore it is easy to naturally align oneself with an occupation. When someone asks you what you do in life, the natural instinct is to respond “I am ... (fill in the appropriate occupation).” Rather than look inside to see who you really are, we tend to go for the less complicated answer.
Why not share who you really are—e.g., I am Michelle, a bank manager by day, aspiring weather girl, but also a wife, friend, dreamer, believer, full of optimism Aquarius who loves learning new things like a language or how to cook. I am a traveler, writer, teacher, student, and lover of life.
I encourage you to think about who you really are. Write down the things that make up you, since in the world there is no one quite like you. Next time someone asks you what you do, you will have a much better answer.
