Is This You?
Identity is many things ...
How you see yourself in relation to others;
An ideal self image you strive to fulfill;
The culture that contains most of what you agree with; or even
A symbol that speaks to your own sense of self-worth.
You can choose the description of your identity, or
you can allow psychology, biology, or society to label you.
You can defy the idea of identity as fixed, being open to change.
You can recognize that you are all of that, and much more...
In terms of personal growth, identity is you, as you were born,
developing into the full maturity of that person,
a metamorphosis by the life force that travels
from the heart through body, mind, and soul.
In terms of ultimate purpose, in later years we realize that our life on Earth will end,
so you will want your years of physical strength to retain their worth when the body loses its power.
Otherwise, as some believe, we are just masses of tissue compelled by the survival instinct,
whose value ends in death.
A question many of us occasionally ask ourselves is, Am I a good person?
In the olden days (haha), if your good deeds outnumber your bad deeds,
you pat yourself on the back.
You'll get into heaven.
Jiminy Cricket sang to Pinocchio, Let your conscience be your guide.
In old cartoons, if a character was considering a selfish act,
a little devil persona sat on one shoulder, encouraging them
while on the other shoulder a little angel persona urged them to do right.
The story in an old Dustin Hoffman movie, Hero. is not so cut-and-dried.
Hoffman plays a shifty character named Bernie.
While driving at night, Bernie sees a plane fall out of the sky and crash into a field.
In an uncharacteristic show of selflessness - grumbling the whole time -
Bernie can't ignore the screams and cries for help. He goes into the flames and helps injured people out, one by one.
And then he disappears anonymously into the night…
In a mad search for the hero, a different character gets credit.
This guy is handsome and humble - the perfect hero.
Eventually, of course, the truth is found out, and -
lo and behold - Bernie is discovered - a far less appealing hero.
Was Bernie a good person?
Bernie was a crook, but he was no coward.
This fact was hidden even from himself.
No one who knew Bernie would ever say he was a good person.
And one good deed does not make a person good - but it's a hint...
Awareness of your own internal debate is a clue to your identity.
Some of us follow a moral or religious compass made of rules to obey.
Some of us have created a standard of behavior that reflects ethics in interpersonal relations.
Some let situations indicate choices, either to act to advantage or let opportunity pass.
Signs of natural autonomous motivation
The principles of the 12 Phases™ are meant to describe natural growth and the roots of motivation.
The aim of natural growth is nothing more than to flourish as an organism.
But there's the human difference:
to flourish is not merely physical well-being. To flourish as a human means that what we do, while existing, gives back to us.
Meaning reflects back to us and we want more of that feeling, so we naturally do again that thing that had meaning.
The 12 Phases™ are associated with positive inclinations toward maturity, from birth to death.
Each phase refers to an internal unconscious response, felt by you, physically.
But, like Bernie, your conscious mind may be unaware of those unthought responses.
When a response happens only internally, there is simply a sensation carried to the brain.
Sensation is an automatic response in your body, like the sensation of revulsion or headache.
It could be a nerve pain, having no apparent cause.
I had such pain for several months, even to the point of losing strength in my arms.
I was perfectly healthy; the pain was caused by unacknowledged stress and distress.
Physical distress forces us to look for solutions.
The longer I ignored the pain, the worse it got. And yet, the source was psychological, not something I could heal with medication.
When the body stops functioning as normal, we are far from homeostasis - the happy place of well-being.
Going in search of a solution takes time and money, but ignoring it can start unraveling other parts of your life.
The situation I endured was a malaise of heart(sickness), soul (relational), mind (anguish), and body (impaired function).
The solution came in multiple parts: creative alternative therapy relieved the pain.
Although, the pain was only temporarily relieved because I didn't know the cause.
Unexpected life events soon provided a remedy at the root, and that massive change eventually brought my sick heart back to full health.
I'm sure you can fill in details of your own from times when you struggled in a similar emotional state.
But maybe you have not yet arrived at the solution points in your journey.
And you may think you just need the logic of the phases, like a checklist.
This is the thing about personal growth - logic cannot insert a solution before the time arrives when we can receive it.
Logic is like science; it is separate from the personal experience.
You unknowingly experience the phases naturally, but in your busyness, your thoughts have no room to consider the background processes of life.
Undetermined internal distresses like mine have provoked a rise in counseling therapies, coaching, and deeper studies in psychology.
Systems are self-contained; natural systems self-organize to manage change.
Your Core DNA doesn't wobble
Every organism has its own DNA, and a genetic history.
You may have learned something about your heritage through a DNA analysis.
DNA is used to verify paternity, or help doctors identify a disease.
True stories of forensics analysts in a criminal investigation fascinate us.
Your DNA is pretty active every day because it contains instructions for your survival, continuous development, and reproduction of all kinds.
The microscopic movements of cells in your body eventually make an appearance where we can see their effect.
Just as we can see the movements of the wind in a floating feather, dust, or a plastic bag,
so does unconscious behavior tell you something about your true, inborn identity.
Your unconscious mind is intimate with your physiology,
traits inherited from your mother and father, and ...
it also collects and remembers all your life experiences,
how, over your lifetime, your organism selectively acquires benefits for you.
Life experience and your biology - body, brain, mind, and external expressions -
are elements in the formation of your "truth" - how you know yourself.
Every particle of your existence contributes to what you know that you know.
All are described in the 12 Phases™:
How you survive,
how you develop,
how you alternately flourish and withdraw.
Despite all the science, only you can see who you are, and to see accurately requires introspection.
In that sense, the 12 Phases™ can be useful to you.
The twelve operating principles are movements of logic behind what you see in life.
Your natural resourcefulness appears in unexpected bursts of strength and knowing from that reservoir of your unconscious mind.
Studies on DNA do attract funding, and we are learning more and more about ourselves.
One interesting tidbit is how lifestyle can build up or diminish the health of your DNA,
while the core DNA that identifies you as YOU, remains unchanged.
You are one of a kind.
This theory is a tool...
The Diane Theory proposes that your unconscious "database"
becomes available in a moment of crisis:
an instant, real-time response when all unconscious knowledge coalesces
to form a response in harmony with your organism as a whole.
Though we strive for excellence, truly heroic acts are automatic, coming from the strength of the unconscious moral fiber.
I believe everyone has this "fiber" in the human spirit, an intrinsic quality not manufactured by the mind.
But unlike Bernie, Dustin Hoffman's character in the movie Hero, who had no desire to cultivate stronger aspects of his nature,
we can choose to investigate the evidence of the greater knowledge in the unconscious mind, when it becomes known to us.
With the 12 Phases™, you can discover strengths hidden in the fiber of your being.
You can also follow the slow course of your development over your lifetime, the natural process of your growth, managed by Nature.
When we understand the nature of life, we can work with it, and not against it.
You can cooperate with the way life, Nature, and time act together as an incubator to protect your growth.
Start now with a personalized calendar based on your life cycle.
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Referenced in this blog:
Disney movie, Pinocchio.
Dustin Hoffman movie, Hero
National Human Genome Institute Fact Sheet
Duke Magazine: "Big Question: Can your environment change your DNA?"