Giving Birth to Who You Really Are

<a href=”http://peterjmorris.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/crowd.jpg”><img class=”alignleft size-full wp-image-313″ title=”crowd” src=”http://peterjmorris.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/crowd.jpg” alt=”A Lone Voice in the Crowd” width=”150″ height=”125″ /></a>We all live in such a conformist society. From birth to death we are continuously exposed to a wide range of different social pressures – so many in fact that we often get to a point in our lives that we are left not really knowing who we really are or where we want to go. In this article I reveal how you can peel back the layers of conformity and give birth to the real you.

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In many ways this is the Age of Conformity. Due mainly to blanket TV, magazine and newspaper advertising we are all continuously pressurised into living by very narrowly defined parameters. The food that we eat, the clothes that we wear and the activities that we take part in are predominantly determined by the subconscious conditioning placed upon us by powerful corporate self-interest and the deep emotional need we all feel to be conformist. <strong>Early Conditioning</strong> As soon as we are born we are are conditioned to think, act and react in ways that are laid down for us. During these early years our actions and reactions are conditioned through pre-established patterns of behaviour. These are applied to us from all sides; from parents, family, relatives, friends, the church and government. Before very long we become overwhelmingly conditioned to think and act by a set of rules that our society considers to be the acceptable norm. These principles by which we are conditioned to act may, or may not, be the right ones or give us the necessary freedoms by which to determine our own destinies. It is a painful fact that the majority of people live alive today their lives created along lines of established conformity. Dancing to the rhythms of the social piper can ultimately enable us to rise up through levels of social strata but they do not encourage us to either think and act in unique and exciting ways. Saying the right things to the right people at the right time or being in the right place at the right time will always draw towards you increasing levels of social acceptance but for some people the price to be paid for following the herd can be psychologically expensive. <strong>An Honest Look in the Mirror</strong> If you were to dissect yourself – pull yourself apart piece by piece and then to stand back and look at the results you would in fact end up with two quite different piles of ‘you’. In the first pile you would see a collection of everything that you currently are. In the second pile you would see an even larger amount of everything that you could and should be. Its one of the greatest mysteries of life that there is this part of ourselves that remains dormant, unexplored and undeveloped. Exactly who this other person really is, what determined those things about us that we could be and how they became separated from us is still not really understood. However, there can be very little doubt to my mind that the ‘who we currently are’ part of ourselves has not been established or formulated solely by our conscious actions. It is in this pile that a further sub-division can be made into the ‘who I currently am as I result of my own thoughts and actions’ and the ‘who I am as a consequence of the pressure that has been applied to me over the years in order to conform’. Somewhere, and at some time, in everybody’s life we are drawn towards looking very closely at this illusion of ourselves – the perception of ourselves that is little more than a mirror image of the social environment that we inhabit. Very often this point of awakening follows personal tragedy, serious illness or great personal loss. As painful as they are these times operate as a great awakening – a sudden realisation that it has been a very, very long time since we were seriously in touch with who we really are at a Soul level. It can be a time at which we and something of the immense potential that resides within. It is so important to realise that once our eyes are opened to the prospect that we can indeed become something else we have a great responsibility to bring to life and to express these deeper elements to our nature. <strong>The Process of Individuation</strong> The actual process of turning ourselves from a character determined through years of social conformity into a person of unique capability and individual prowess is a long, hard and painful process. It is during this time of change that we feel exposed, vulnerable, anti-social or just darn-right strange. We stop recognising who we are, and as a consequence we confuse many people around us as to our true identity and current purpose in life. Friends and family in particular may feel at this point that they no longer feel that they really know or understand us. This is hard for everyone involved but the payoff for all the effort expended in creating a new you is every bit worthwhile. By turning in and examining your true inner feelings, motivations, virtues and strengths you will ultimately discover the real path of your life and the role you have to play through this lifetime. As the ancient wisdom used to say ‘Unto thyne own self be true’. In my opinion there is better advice by which to live our lives and by which to actively engage with the spiritual transformation process.