Awareness about Identity
The fine balance of external and internal identities makes
you a whole being. Our identities are formed during the course of our lives and
therefore it can be called as an evolutionary phenomenon that develops over a
prolonged period of time. Combination of one’s intellectual abilities,
emotional and spiritual being with the social and cultural forces results in
complete identity of an individual. As discussed earlier, both environmental
influences and inner characteristics contribute in making an identity. On the
basis identity, you discover who you actually are and not on the basis of what
you possess or do. The inherent characteristics that constantly motivate you and
create zeal within, urge about things and phenomenon, and frames your
psychology makes you well aware about your being and provides that inner
motivation to strive and accomplish things and goals that you want to attain in
life. Once you are fully aware about your inner identity, you tend to show less
interest in relationships, companions, connections, friendships etc because you
know you are completely aware about yourself and without the outer influences,
you are a complete identity. This process is a prolonged phenomenon that
requires a lengthy span of time for one to realize that external influences
cannot alter one’s core instincts and attributes of life to the extent that one
changes completely. Your true identity awareness about yourself helps in
letting you know what you are at the deepest core of your existence. This stage
of life can be called as the first phase of knowing oneself and living a
sentient life.
Without being aware about our core identity, it is not possible
to be authentic or original. One cannot be original without even knowing the
meaning of originality. One cannot be real without even knowing what real
means. Our identity has a strong impact on our profession or business,
relationships, lifestyles, preferences, etc and therefore it becomes utmost
important to know and understand who we really are. Being aware about our inner
self helps us in being authentic and making wise decisions in life. For
example, when we fail to realize our inner strengths, skills and capabilities
how can be determine our goals in life. One need to know what one likes before
one knows what one wants. When you know purple is your favorite color, you
would like to buy cloths in purple color because you know what you like. When
you know you have the capability of singing or acting, you will obviously want
to be an actor or a singer. Therefore, complete knowledge about you is an
important step towards forming a definite identity and attaining things in
life. These small yet important attributes of life build an identity that lasts
for a life time. Once your inherent preferences, likes and dislikes are known,
you are recognized on the basis of your identity attributes by your circles
such as friends, relatives, family members, subordinates etc because they know the
characteristics features of your identity.
Recognition through Identity
The aspects of identity are so important that a class
teacher can name a student merely on the basis of the characteristics exhibited
by the student. For example, if a teacher is asked to name the student who is dominating
in the class, she can immediately name the students who always exhibit
authoritative behavior in the class. She can immediately recognize the students
on the basis of aspects of identity shown by each student in the class. If she
is asked to name the most popular guy or one who has many friends in the class
or the one who is too mischievous in the class, she can give out the names of
each student merely on the basis of these finer attributes of their personalities
being a constant observer of their identities. This simply demonstrates how our
behavior, attributes and preferences can shape our identity and leave a lasting
impression on people’s minds.
