Our Identity – Who, where, what..

The very first question you ask yourself (or someone) when you meet someone / something for the first time – WHAT, WHO?
It’s a very basic human instinct towards some one or something unknown – we have a never-ending curiosity to find out the unknown. So who am I – isn’t that one of the first questions we should ask ourselves.
Believe me it is also one of the toughest questions to answer. A person is defined by so many attributes and their interactions, it is hard to answer it simply and get it right. Let me take a shot at it, keeping myself in the hot seat!

Lets get some of the material attributes right out of the way, before we start talking about the complex stuff.

So I am an India-born, Hindu, well educated, internationally work experienced, straight, blessed with great parents & supporting family, never been to jail (so far), love cricket, reading books, movie buff, love multiple cuisines, bad dancer, good friend, heavy social drinker, never smoked anything, bespectacled IT pro (so typical), glob trotter, music freak, live/die by the watch, never miss a commitment, funny but serious kind of a guy.

The word, which would have flashed your mind by now – Average! It pretty much defines almost all aspects of my life so far. I am neither so tall nor that short, just above average. Always had plenty to compare on either side of me, people worse off and better off.

When I was a student, I had my brilliant moments, but could have I done more – Absolutely!

When I started working, achieved a lot in a very less time, but could have done more – oh yes!

I am blessed with great family; we love / support each other always, could I do more – Anytime!

But then again, what is the upper limit for things like - success, speed, love, money, good health, knowledge, happiness ... So how do we measure one’s success / failure?

Is measurement important after all, as they say, it is the journey and not the goal, which matters (old cliché). Still we set goals everyday, go crazy after them and feel happy / sad towards the end of the journey based on how much we achieved.

So if it is all relative measurement, with the external world, then the key to happiness is “satisfaction”. Are you satisfied with what you have on your plate or you want to strive for more. As it is an endless pursuit, we can keep going on and on and still remain dissatisfied and dejected, because we keep comparing ourselves with external world.

I think, there is always & will always be someone more powerful, stronger, more successful, richer, happier, better looking, more knowledgeable than me in this big world.

So to identify who we are, we perhaps need to dig deeper inside and find the inner peace, which will keep the smile on the face even on the worst of the days.

Many times I have met people in very difficult situations and wondered, what keeps them ticking (when the world is falling apart around them) – it is their inner soul, inner happiness and satisfaction, which define who they are!