Who we are

Who we are

The other day, I was just wondering; what we are comprised of? How do we describe ourselves, our friends, relatives, and other persons some of whom we personally know and others whom we have heard about?

What actually defines our existence? Or in other words, what is that, which actually describes us? Is it the money we possess, or the power and influence that we have over others? Is it our looks, dressing style or it is the absence of good looks and lack of aesthetic sense of wardrobe? Is it the nature of our profession or it is the family that we are born into?

If we talk about a film star, we talk about his/ her acting proficiencies, looks and dressing style. If we are talking about a politician then we talk about the power that the person enjoys. When we talk about a friend, then we talk about his/her compassion or indifference to us. When we think about our family we think about their contribution and our attachments to them. We think of different persons in different perceptions.

Does one’s perception or even imagination describes the other person. But perceptions of different people can vary, as we perceive things according to our basic assumptions. The perception of the people is their imagination mostly. Could the perception of other people define someone?

Some of other important characteristics, which look relevant, can be wealth, looks, career, relationships, etc. Though there can be a numerous attributes, which can define and describe a person, some of the few are being described below.

Wealth: It can be one of the most undependable things on this earth. The money one posses today might not be there tomorrow. Money never buys love, class, culture, principle and any other moral values. Money buys power, materials, vanity, etc. People who devote their whole existence on money are left with nothing, when it’s drained out. Those who have the potency to preserve it are so constantly changing to adapt at the pace of their changing lifestyle that there is no consistency to describe their existence.

Relationships/family: Place, family, relatives, culture, religion, traditions are equally important to shape a person and to govern circumstances, which molds a person. These can play a very decisive role in giving shape to a person but can’t really define someone. An example can describe this fact more elaborately. In a house there can be two brothers. But most of the time they may grow up to become two different individuals with different opinions. How often does it seem that two brothers act in the same manner? They have same gender, parents, relatives, surroundings, yet they tend to be different. Why in a given possible similar situation they grow up to be different persons? The reason can be attributed to the fact that we perceive things according to us not by what is shown to us.

Career/ looks: Like wealth career and looks are not consistent. For most of the people start their jobs from a smaller scale then either they are static or climb the ladder to success eventually. When they retire, how so ever rosy their career may be but it cease to exist and most of the people cannot work throughout their lives.

Looks can play a certain amount of role in describing us but again are not consistent. When Marilyn Munroe comes to out mind, we just simply say that she was so gorgeous but we have not seen her getting old. There are other beautiful ladies who are more fortunate in getting old. Aging fades physical beauty and youth showers it. But a beautiful person at heart will always remain so. There is also other aspect to it, as a good-looking person is addressed by the looks so does some one who is devoid of it. Person who is not blessed enough to get physical or facial looks is sometimes bullied and looked down upon. It may not affect the people who bullies but it might affect the confidence of the person who is being bullied. Can looks be taken as a yardstick to describe some one? No, it can’t be as it changes too.

Consistency is describable but change is not, though we all change some way or other. Can change define a person or it cannot? Well, if the person defined in a way and then he/ she changes to another definition then the one in which they were being describes no longer stays valid. There is no surety that they will remain static in the being changed situation. Again it can change so can their definition.

Then what defines an individual? What can be static in a person, which is describable? Well, I would say that the thoughts makes the vary fabric of the individual. The way he feels, thinks, acts, the morality he has acquired, and the compassion he has in his heart. All these define an individual. Though it can change to a degree, as it can be refined or deteriorated but the basic emotions remains unaltered. An compassionate person will remain so irrespective of the fact that he is rich or poor, ugly or good looking, is from this religion or the other, is loved or not. No circumstance can change his compassion. Bitter experiences may make him make him bit indifferent but his compassion will be unaltered and make its way out in even in unfavorable situations.