🔵 By Timothy Brunner. Photo by lauragrafie.
I am not what others have made me. I am not who others have made me. I refuse to be the pawn on another’s chess board. I am not an instrument to be played. I am not a tool to be used. I have never been stupid and I am not dumb. There are so many things that we can say we are not… even as we struggle to see what we are. I have never shied from looking into the dark recesses of any character and naming my qualities. I am hateful and spiteful. I am angry and violent. I can continue this list, too, but never for one second think that reflects low self-esteem. NEVER! Just honesty.
I can also name the converse of each of these characteristics and name them as my own as well. We, each of us, are embodiments of humanity because we are all human. Even in our diversity we are joined by the nature of what it is to be “human”. That is the basis of a human right, anyway.
In a more particular sense, I see my positive and negative qualities in different circumstances. This brings to bear the whole idea of intent again… The actual instant doesn’t matter nearly so much as how the intent can be made evident by action.
Always full circle to actions from intent. I am not my actions!
Actions are reflections into the world what our intent is. We intend to show our valves through what we do in pursuit of whatever that means to each of us. The intention of the action is the honest definition of who we are.
I am not the action because an act is a fact and a fact is a cold thing with no soul. I am not a fact.
The intent is the soul of the action, the reason for its being. The fact can be interpreted so many different ways that it makes it necessary to plan the actions to most accurately reflect the intent.
That is the way to show who we are without being misunderstood. I am not my emotions, so emotional decisions are flawed representations of me. I am not what others define me as. Those definitions are based on actions, not intent.