Who Am I?

One of the issues you find often is a lot of people not wanting to be identified by what they do for a living. You hear people often at a party or event and they ask you “What do you do?”

Many people find this offensive. In recent years, psychologists tell us that this is not the way to talk to people. Instead, focus on the individual and quit identifying people by what they do.

A Look Back

Any yet it is odd that historically speaking, people have been identified by what they did.

• Benjamin Franklin being a printer and inventor.
• Thomas Edison being an inventor.
• George Washington being a president and military leader.
• Michelangelo being a famous artist.

Now while these people may have also been identified by other things, the point is that  many people today are thrilled to be identified as something like a doctor. Very rarely do you see a medical doctor who is ashamed of what they do. And yes we use the word “ashamed.” So many of us do not want to be identified by what we do because we are not happy with what we do.

If you are afraid to be identified by what you do, you should really think twice about why you are doing it.

I’ve met people with, what many in society would consider the lowliest of jobs such as garbage collectors or doormen, who seem proud of the service they are offering because without them something would be missing.

Yet so many people don’t want to be identified this way.

So it seems like the trick is, the garbage collector, the door man, the plumber, the people who may not want to be identified by what they do, the people who may be hourly laborers, if they love what they are doing and they are living their passion, then clearly they are not ashamed of being identified by their work.

But what about you?

Are you ashamed of being identified by what you do? Do you say it with pride—what you do to make a living?

Even people these days that are housewives— And they are one of the most bizarre—–Many women in today’s movement will not confess to being a housewife. They will say that with great embarrassment. They have to say “I’m a housewife, BUT I used to work in industry”

Why?

What higher calling is there? Statistics show that for a wife/stay at home mother, the momentary value of that is well over $120,000 a year. Most men don’t make that. So what are women ashamed of?

This is out society at work. Telling us we should not be proud of what we do and instead we should try to be identified by who we are. Frankly, I’m not quite sure what that even means: who we are? Fact is, what we do it part of who we are.

Can you proudly say how you serve?