“Be yourself; everyone else is already taken.” – Oscar Wilde
“In our family it’s God, family and basketball!” I have no recollection when it was first articulated or what prompted it. What I do know is that our boys were somewhere in their early elementary school years and already deeply engaged in all manner of things including sports.
I’m certain if I were to poll my peeps today the family mantra, at least in part, would be different . Our sons are now adults and appropriately are establishing their own sense of identity.
Recently I had the opportunity to again engage in an activity called the Dimension of Diversity. This exercise provides an opportunity to clarify our own sense of identity and a potential window into how we view others.
What became clear for me was that there are components that are the foundation of my identity:
Faith: The core of my understanding of who I am is rooted deeply in being a beloved child of God.
Family: My family, biological and chosen friends who are as family to me, support and shape me through their unconditional love and encouragement.
Place: Those places I know as home ground me in this world providing me with a strong connection of community and belonging.
Purpose: My clarity of vocation of walking with others as they live into the fullness of who they are called to be inspires me every day.
Aristotle is credited with saying, “Knowing yourself is the beginning of all wisdom.” In my experience there may be no more important ‘work’ than to dig down into our understanding of the core of our identity. In part to gain clarity of how and why we navigate the world but also to gain an appreciation and openness that others have their own how and why of navigating.
God, family, basketball – I have definitely done some work and gained some wisdom since that early family mantra… except maybe during March Madness🏀😎.
“Who do you say that I am?” Mark 8:29
BP