“Who am I?” is Everything

This question may seem elementary or the statement of an amnesiac. However, if we cannot clearly and quickly answer it, we risk making poor decisions and perhaps never reaching our full potential. We are all products of our family heritage, educational background, work experience and spiritual experience.  It is very easy to loose our true identity based only on an understanding of “what we do” and “what others expect of us.”  To answer the question, “who am I?” it is essential that we stop for a moment and reflect.

I wrestled with this question for the first time in my early 20’s.  I felt frustrated as I pondered what I had been put on this earth to do.  Fortunately, I had the opportunity to share my dissatisfaction with an older gentlemen who I trusted. As I was describing my situation and the pulling of others to make the choices they had made, he calmly said to me, “You just need to be the best George Gundlach you can be.”  I was stunned by his words.  The thought was both freeing and terrifying.  It was first freeing to find someone without an agenda for me.  The terrifying part was wondering how I was to discover my purpose that was lodged deep within my DNA.