You are the man!

I shudder to think that the words of the prophet Nathan, addressed to King David were in effect addressed to me. The fact is that these words are addressed to every human person, who attempts to keep his/her inner self safely guarded. We know how to camouflage, and change the color of our skins according to the surroundings, very much like chameleon, so that no one suspects we have a dirty self under our skins. Our world may collapse the very moment when one or two inadvertently discovers our inner true self; we immediately struggle to carpet the dirt, and again put a big smile in order to show that everything is fine with us, that nothing is wrong whatsoever.

Fortunately there are too few people in the world who would dare to remove the thick carpet which covers our ugly inner selves. No one can bear the stench that may emanate from our hidden selves, and that is one of the reasons why others do not wish to strip us naked to show to the world who we truly are; the second and more important reason why we are often spared from disclosing our true selves is others are so frightened that if they pull out the carpet from my skin, the next day it may be my turn to remove the carpet from his/her skin, and that would be asking for too much of trouble. Therefore on mutual agreement, we all try to accept and acknowledge the hidden self beneath, yet dare not take a good look at them.

King David was taken aback, when prophet Nathan cornered him; the king could not believe that he himself could be so corrupt. Seeming disbelief is the first reaction of the people who do not wish to disclose their true selves. If they had known their true selves, then they might accept and acknowledge themselves as they are, instead of entering into a fierce battle to bring in rationalization, arguments to prove that the inner self they carry all through, does not belong to them. It demands a lot of guts and courage to acknowledge that we could be wrong, and fragile in some areas, which are nothing to be ashamed of. But transformation could take place the very moment, we accept and acknowledge our true identity.

It is not that we deliberately try to hide our true identity all the time; quite often it could also happen because of our ignorance. I have a inherent tendency to compare my friends has been pointed out to me by one of my friends; so long I had been imagining that I hate to do this kind of comparing, but when others catch me red-handed, as prophet Nathan caught hold of king David, there is very little that can be done to salvage one’s sanity and sanctity. Our friends are the best persons who could help us realize the thickness of the carpet which is covering our true self; they can even help us remove it and show to the world our true selves. It is in fact, part of their responsibility as friends.

Psychologists and psychoanalysts have called the inner self as our shadows, and they had gone to the extent of inviting us to embrace our shadows, in order to really give birth to a new self, which can go beyond all the limitations experienced by the inner self. Anyone who attempts to blossom one’s self, without first reconciling to shadows, is bound to experience failure, frustration and depression. Today as I stand at the threshold of yet another significant moment in life, I would like to take a good look at myself; all these years, I had understood my inner self, only a fragment of it; it is just the tip of an iceberg and I have so much to learn about me, and I really wonder if I would be able to truly understand myself before I breathe my last.