Who Do People Say I Am? Be Yourself

Who do people say I am? And, why should you even waste your time asking people what others are saying about you, are you not just doing the wrong thing? Jesus at one time had to deal with this question and I quote the Holy Bible, "Luke 9:18 And it happened, as He was alone praying, that His disciples joined Him, and He asked them, saying, "Who do the crowds say that I am?" 19 So they answered and said, John the Baptist, but some say Elijah; and others say that one of the old prophets has risen again." 20 He said to them, "But who do you say that I am?" Peter answered and said, "The Christ of God." 21 And He strictly warned and commanded them to tell this to no one,"

Just be yourself and if some people don't understand who you are, leave them alone. If you don't, you'll find that you're wasting much of your time that you could have actually used to do something that will get you somewhere in life.

There are some people who spend their time finding out what others are saying about them. They want perfection, the kind of perfection that will please other people. On the process of being such a perfectionist, they end up hurting themselves. One thing you have to understand is that you cannot please all people. Yes, you'll help people as much as you can but will they really appreciate your help?

Personally, I find that dealing with people isn't an easy task. There is always a conflict of interest and some people don't think in a rational way, they just think irrationally regarding some issues. Even when they completely understand the consequences, they still continue arguing and want to do things the way they want.

You see, you help people but you get disappointed because you later on find out that the same people you have helped are the ones who don't appreciate what you have done for them. And, again they don't extend that help to others. They instead become too selfish, just minding their own personal interests. They don't care about others forgetting that they were helped to get to where they're now... they were helped by someone to get out of a distressful situation, just like the parable of the two debtors told by Jesus (Refer Matthew 18:23-34).

However, here is a piece of advice I got from mother Teresa and I quote her, "People are often unreasonable and self-centered. Forgive them anyway. If you are kind, people may accuse you of ulterior motives. Be kind anyway. If you are honest, people may cheat you. Be honest anyway. If you find happiness, people may be jealous. Be happy anyway. The good you do today may be forgotten tomorrow. Do good anyway. Give the world the best you have and it may never be enough. Give your best anyway. For you see, in the end, it is between you and God. It was never between you and them anyway." Amen!

I understand very well that life can be very unfair to some of us but even if it is unfair we Must recognize that God is good and will always remain to be good throughout. Pray and thank him always. God has given you a chance to be alive today so that you do something constructive to improve your life. The good work you do today will make a difference of how tomorrow will be. Your tomorrow will not be like yesterday.

Another thing is that you should never waste your time comparing yourself with others. That is not how to go about living your life. Be yourself because you'll never be someone else. Appreciate others for what they are but don't try to be them. You'll not be appreciating God's creation if you try being someone else, it is like telling God that he made a mistake creating you the way you're. You'll also lose your purpose that God created you for. You have to live your life and those who think that you could be like so and so let them know that you are who you are. Yes, say confidently that "I am who I am." If you cannot get along with some people, then you don't owe them any apology. Owe them apology for what, for living your life and being yourself?

Appreciate what you do, tell yourself that all you have done is good. Even God saw everything that He had made as being very good.

Although I'm telling you all these, I can't ignore to mention how unemployment is affecting some families. Unemployment is another thing that is stressing families. It is not a pleasant experience to be unemployed, just waking up each day wondering where a dollar will come from to buy food and other basic needs for the family.

"Unemployment disrupts life and leaves its victims basking in disgrace. In a family setting, the men become assumptive; the wives get cold and the children suffer. Young men go to school, finish and expect to join the job market and make a difference through their work. Employment gives individuals the chance to meet their obligations and the expectations of the society by achieving developmental tasks like marriage, settling down, owning property and so on."-Source: article from Daily Nation published on January 30 2013.

If you have never experienced how it feels to be a parent who is unemployed with children who need basic needs, then you won't know how it actually feels and instead of helping such families you just tell them how well you're doing in life. It will be good of you to just show a little compassion to those parents who are very poor (not because they're lazy) and are unable to provide for their families. Hey, don't get me wrong here! Read 1Thessalonians 5:14-15.

There are so many youths out there who are willing to work but this thing called unemployment is becoming a cruel disastrous thing. You really don't expect unemployed person to be smiling at you! What is there any way for such a person to keep on smiling at? Unemployment affects a person's life both socially and psychologically. The society can be unforgiving especially when a person is educated to college level but can't find a job as per the expectations.

It is time that families should start embracing entrepreneurship. Yes, this is the time that families should learn to recognize that their children don't have to wait to be employed. They can seek other ways of employing themselves based on the knowledge and skills they possess (they have been imparted with). For example, if you already have skills in IT (Information Technology) and actually you're qualified, why not start your IT business and solve computer problems that some of the businesses and other organizations are facing!

Start small, make mistakes here and there then learn from your mistakes and with time your small IT business will grow and eventually become an established IT company. You'll employ people and when you employ other people it actually implies that you're an employer. This way, you're touching people's lives and at the same time helping the government to solve the high rate of unemployment not forgetting that it needs you to pay taxes.

N/B: Just like many of my articles I have written, this article is based on my personal opinions.