2 Kinds of Identity

I had a flat tire this morning.

Usually that kind of thing makes people like me all red-faced and furious.  But I surprised myself this morning.  I was Mr. Cool.  I didn’t say the f-word once.

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I’ve been learning a lot about “identity” lately.  I’ve been learning that there’s a version of ourselves that we think we are and another version of ourselves that we’re supposed to be becoming.  And the idea is that somebody out there – you can call it the Universe or whatever you want, I call it God – is constantly trying to transform us into the latter.

I’d never really thought about this, but here’s where it started for me: A couple months ago, my friend Kevin told me that I’m a pretty negative person.  Uh… I always thought of myself as a pretty positive person?  But he said: “You’re always so down on yourself.  I think you need to start trying to see the blessings in situations, instead of the curses.”  He suggested that this would start me on the process of becoming “who I really am”.

I didn’t really know how to take that.  Situations are either good or bad, I thought.  For example: Getting money in the mail?  Good.  Getting bills in the mail?  Bad.

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I’ve blogged about Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer before.  I relate to that guy.  Especially the claymation version because he’s super cute.  He saw his red nose as a giant curse in his life, until it turned out to be a giant blessing.  That’s the best example I’ve got.

In my own life, the biggest example of seeing the blessing in the curse is my stutter – because it’s proven to have a silver lining time and time again.  But I blog about all that all the time.  So beat a dead horse I will not.

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3 years ago, my dad bought me a little air compressor from Home Depot.  I love that thing.  It has a home right under the front passenger seat of my van.

When I discovered my flat tire this morning, instead of getting red-faced and saying a bunch of words that my grandma wouldn’t like, I realized how blessed I am to have an air compressor with me everywhere I go.  I saw the blessing hiding within the curse and … and I guess I got a little glimpse of the version of myself that I’m supposed to be turning into.

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So, what’s the moral of the story?  I guess it could be chalked up to something like: Not all flat tires are bad news.  But then again, maybe it’s all a big coincidence.  Maybe I’ve just been getting really good sleep lately and that’s why I’m suddenly “a better person”.

Flat tires make people late for things everyday.  Job interview.  Classes.  Hot dates.  Lucky me didn’t have anything planned on this particular Tuesday, but in one of those situations, I probably wouldn’t have been so in touch with this elusive “other identity that I’m supposed to be turning into”.  Is that making sense?

What do you think?  Do you agree that there are 2 versions of people:  The person we think we are vs. the person we’re supposed to be?

Is it just a matter of eating right and sleeping well?  Or, like my friend and church have been saying, is it a spiritual thing?  What kind of part does God play in all this?

I guess it’s a bit of a Holy Grail after all: “How to be a better person”.  Which explains why self-help books are so popular.  I don’t read those books.  Huh.

I guess the only thing I know for sure is … you should go buy yourself an air compressor!

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francy