Answering the Question, Who Am I?

I recently read that in Irish, when you talk about emotion, you don’t say, “I am sad,” but rather, “Sadness is on me." It was on a meme I posted in my FB group, Purk Up Your Life. I posted it because I believe there is great value in the message.

When you can see an emotion as being “on you” and not the ending to the sentence, “I am…,” hope arrives. Suddenly, an emotion doesn’t feel like it will be here forever. It’s becomes a transition and thus, temporary. You will process it, release it, and move on.

I recently shared this thought during a client meeting. Her initial reaction was, “I get it; I like that.” But then went on to ask, “But then who am I?”

“If I’m not sad (or insert other emotion here), then who I am?” she continued.

I offered that answering the question, “Who am I?” comes in our character and our values. They are the things that we are and can choose to be - - always.

You won’t always be sad although you are sometimes. It’s the same for other emotions such as happiness, anger, or fear.

But when you identify yourself by the core values you hold, e.g., love, kindness, faith, then these values can become your answer to, “Who am I?”

”I am a person who is …..”

It’s the things we never want to release.

Unless we’re releasing them toward another person.

In which case, they still answer, “Who am I?”