You have a body. But you are not your body.
You have thoughts. But you are not your thoughts.
You have emotions. But you are not your emotions.
You have a family. But you are not your family.
You have friends. But you are not your friends.
You have a job. But you are not your job.
You have a bank account. But you are not your bank account.
SO WHO IS THE AUTHENTIC YOU ?
For some of you, it will take years, maybe even a lifetime to unearth and discover the real you. But don’t give up. This is your most ardent mission; your most sacred task. Do not consult your external Self, your body, do not heed wisdom from your thoughts and beliefs, do not always trust your emotions for they can be in flux and in turmoil, do not look to your family or friends, do not judge your authentic Self by what you do, or how much money you make. Your Authentic Self is not found in the stars or the deep sea. It is found within–inside; that place that is only yours, that place called your SOUL. What should we do once we find this place?
Love it. Accept it. Enmesh yourself in it’s glory. Celebrate it and let the JOY bubble to the surface and touch everyone around you. Your SOUL is alive, on fire burning with possibility and potential. It wants to play! It wants to learn! It wants to love! From the very beginning, it has always been about the journey, not the destination. All experiences including the pain is worthwhile. It was all necessary—ingredients that made you YOU! So wherever you are is fine. Pick yourself up–and trust your inner guidance system. Go to your SOUL.
Two thousand years ago, Socrates declared to his students that the unexamined life is not worth living. Plato brought Socratic wisdom to the world in his writings. What this old master was trying to teach his students is that if we don’t meet, know, and love our Authentic Self, our SOUL deteriorates. Life will have been a waste. Another master, St. Augustine, Bishop of Hippo from 396 to 430, one of the Latin Fathers of the Church and perhaps the most significant Christian thinker after St. Paul said it this way: “Take care of your body as if you were going to live forever; and take care of your soul as if you were going to die tomorrow.”