Self- Concept Thursday

I, like most of y’all folks, sat doe-eyed and gap mouthed when OWN, Oprah Winfrey’s new network, aired it’s first Master Class. Jay-Z was the first Master Student Teacher and his interview made me a different type of fan of his.

His self-awareness and his pockets of transparency made me say, “hot dayum,” he’s really on his path. He revealed a few dimensions of his brand of genius and for the first time, I was overly impressed with him. [Videos Here and Below]

When I watched the videos again, I realized that he is a great example of someone operating in his calling. What do I mean by calling? Well, I wrote to myself a few years back that I thought a calling was/is: “is less about an occupation, and more about being who you were meant to be. It’s the acknowledgment, and acceptance of you. It is walking in, operating in, and functioning as the person you were created to be. The fact is, we are all called. We are all called into our selves. You are called to be the who you really are.”

So, with alla that, I’ve made a list of observations/insights I notice from people [some famous people, some spiritual teachers, and a few light givers] who operate in their true selves.

Wanna hear it? Hear it goes…

• They are Self Aware- Know who they are: gifts, talents, and such–and don’t make any apologies for it.

• They are Authentic/chase their own dreams- “The worst thing to be, is to be successful as someone else. I feel sorry for someone who has to walk out of the house every day as someone else,” again Shawn Carter.

• They are Comfortable in their own skin– These are the people who learn how to settle into themselves–and settling as in being peaceful in themselves. Not the ‘I’m complacent” type of settle.

• They are Reinventors and Evolvers- Your “call” will most likely redefine itself and evolve itself the more you operate in it…. I bet that’s a challenge?

• They Do stuff no one has ever done before- Welp, since every one of us has a unique contribution to make to this here world, just about everyone will have to do at least one some thing that no one has ever done before.

• They Play themselves “Big”- At some point in time, people on their own paths stop playing themselves small. At some point if you’re gonna commit to being you, you have to stop pandering to people, places or things that don’t keep you centered in self. [not to be confused with self-centered]

• They are Committed to the path and themselves

• They Learn to Love- And by that, I mean they learn to love fearlessly

• They Enjoy the process- And they look like they enjoy life

• They have failures–sometimes big whoppers. Those failures though, seem to pull them along their own paths quickly, though.

• They inspire others to live better lives- They are committed to their paths and them selves. And they help people live better lives, too.

• They are Driven, firstly, by internal motivations- “For anybody who is thinking about taking a risk, you have to always come back to: What are your fundamental principles, what are your fundamental beliefs about yourself and your reason for doing whatever? So I thought, Well, if it doesn’t work, that still doesn’t take away the reason I wanted to do it.”-O

• They can see outside of them ‘selves’– It’s hard to win in life and at life if you can’t get outside of yourself and your situation to survey the whole landscape.

• Their calling is not defined by a career [they seem to have a lot of identities]

As I mentioned up top, a calling is not a career. But I’ve noticed that people on their ‘path’ seem to have a lot of sometimes seemingly disconnected identities. Identities you wouldn’t put into one person: The business person that’s a teacher, the mother that’s a budding entrepreneur with a lot of enterprises.

They operate in all of those selves. Fully.