I recently came across someone who was taking a sabbatical from their work. A sabbatical is a period of leave from your job to rest and refresh. The question I had was, “What would I do with months off from my normal day-to-day job?”
Imagine it for a minute. What would you do if you had six months off from your studies or your job? What would you do with yourself? How would you feel about not going to class every day or going into the office? Who would you be, what would you do?
For so many people, their identity is found in what they do. It’s something I had to ask myself recently. Who am I outside of the job that I do? While our careers or studies may be fulfilling, it’s easy to fall into the trap that we are what we do. Remember – what you do is not who you are.
Here are a few questions to ask yourself:
- Who are you? If you answered a teacher, a pastor, a student or clerk, you need to take a minute and evaluate who you really are. You are so much more than what you do. You are passionate, you are kind, you are loving, you are smart, you are talented. You are not what you do. You are you, no matter what role you take up in society.
- Use one word to describe you: When you answer this one, make sure that the word you use to describe you does not coincide with what you do. It’s trickier than it seems but this is a great exercise to do to see where your identity lies.
- Are you happy with who you have become? Sometimes what we do gives us sense of fulfilment and confidence. But sometimes what we do can turn us into someone we don’t recognise. Either way, don’t let what you do define who you are. If what you do makes you feel good about yourself, that’s great, but make sure that you know who you are outside of what you do. On the other hand, if you don’t like who you have become, you can make changes in your life. You decide who you are.
If you had to do something totally different tomorrow, would you know who you are? Would you be happy with who you are?
Just some food for thought. I love this verse in Psalm 139,
“You watched me as I was being formed in utter seclusion, as I was woven together in the dark of the womb. You saw me before I was born. Every day of my life was recorded in your book. Every moment was laid out before a single day had passed.”
God has designed you incredible and unique. Find out who He created you to be and be that person.
To find out more about knowing who God created you to be, click on the link below or on the pop up.