{"id":1934,"date":"2011-07-27T14:31:02","date_gmt":"2011-07-27T18:31:02","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/inspirationreport\/?p=1934"},"modified":"2011-07-27T14:31:02","modified_gmt":"2011-07-27T18:31:02","slug":"labels-titles-and-who-you-really-are","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/inspirationreport\/2011\/07\/labels-titles-and-who-you-really-are.html","title":{"rendered":"Labels, Titles and Who You Really Are"},"content":{"rendered":"

I just read a great article in Yoga Journal<\/em> called \u201cWho Do You Think You Are\u201d<\/a>. The author Sally Kempton writes on self-perception. She describes two people in situations that sent them into an identity crisis: an athletic woman who injures herself and a man with a troubled marriage. In an instant, the image they had of themselves respectively as a yoga teacher and a husband were threatened.<\/p>\n

It got me thinking about labels. So often we identify ourselves with what we do or who we belong to. It\u2019s like we go through life with a label-maker, and the moment we affiliate ourselves with something, we adhere the corresponding label to our foreheads.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>This isn\u2019t to say being part of something is wrong. We are born into community; we want to belong. However, the problem comes when the label we\u2019ve adhered to ourselves gets stuck so much so that we don\u2019t know who we are when it\u2019s ripped off. You\u2019ve seen it happen: the mother who doesn\u2019t know what to do with her time now that her kids are grown up and out of the house or the business owner who\u2019s lost his or her way when the office closes. When temporary labels get mixed up with self-perception, things can get ugly.<\/p>\n

I remember reading Dr. Phil\u2019s Love Smart<\/em> many years ago, and there\u2019s a chapter on describing yourself. He says to write down who you think you are, but there\u2019s a catch. You can\u2019t use words like \u201cI\u2019m a Christian\u201d, \u201cI\u2019m a teacher\u201d, \u201cI\u2019m a mother\u201d, etc.<\/p>\n

Could you describe yourself without using titles, occupations, or positions? Give it a try. It\u2019s tough, isn\u2019t it?<\/p>\n

In this day when marriages fall apart and jobs can be terminated without a notice, we must find more than man-made labels to define us. As the article<\/a> points out, we must go deeper.<\/p>\n

How does one find their true self? I\u2019ll be honest with you. I don\u2019t know, and I don\u2019t think there\u2019s an easy, step-by-step answer. It\u2019s a lifelong quest of trying new things, spending time with people who know and love you, meditating and praying and being open to whatever life offers. Being fully self-aware is probably one of those figurative destinations where, once you\u2019ve finally arrived, it\u2019s time for you to go home. But it\u2019s a worthy pursuit.<\/p>\n

So, don\u2019t limit yourself with labels. You\u2019re full of so many surprises that you can’t be defined.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I just read a great article in Yoga Journal called \u201cWho Do You Think You Are\u201d. The author Sally Kempton writes on self-perception. She describes two people in situations that sent them into an identity crisis: an athletic woman who injures herself and a man with a troubled marriage. In an instant, the image they…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":93,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fbia_status":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[8,9,4,20,6,26],"tags":[317,315,318,316],"class_list":["post-1934","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-courage-and-strength","category-happier-you","category-inspiring-messages","category-something-to-think-about","category-thought-to-ponder","category-well-being","tag-identity","tag-labels","tag-self-perception","tag-titles"],"yoast_head":"\nLabels, Titles and Who You Really Are<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/inspirationreport\/2011\/07\/labels-titles-and-who-you-really-are.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Labels, Titles and Who You Really Are\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"I just read a great article in Yoga Journal called \u201cWho Do You Think You Are\u201d. 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