We Are 'What We Do When Nobody is Looking'
Posted: Friday, October 14, 2011
by Andrew Kellerman
1st Cell Tower Broker
I found myself trying to give some meaning to my eleven year old towhead son about the parent conference we had just left. Doing my best to come up with something thoughtful and simple enough so he would remember my words and be able to apply it to his life, I tried my best and I felt truly inspired beyond myself.
Alex's math teacher had told him that if you follow the rules in life you will become a better person. I guess this had more of an effect on me more than I knew. I told my son in my wisest daddy voice. “Son , who you are is 'what you do when nobody is looking'”.
What does that phrase actually mean? It's not even a proper sentence, but yet it holds so much truth to me and my introspection. And what about when no one is looking? Is that when we are supposed to invoke, “God is always watching”, so don't worry about it?
How do we (I'm asking myself as I type) feel about ourselves? Is how others feel or think about us how we should feel about ourselves? How could this be? We act differently when we are with friends or family or bosses or neighbors. When we act, we are not ourselves by definition. So who are we really?
The hardest part for me is determining how to measure myself; do I think of the way I feel about myself or do I try to feel the way I think of myself?
Any insight you care to share would certainly be appreciated.
This Article has been viewed 289 times. (Not updated in real-time.)
Top-level comments on this article: (2 total)As a Friend (a Quaker), I look to the Light within. There one finds truth and harmony with the Spirit. When I'm in a social environment I am influenced by that society to an extent. I am interacting on the mortal level of consciousness. When I am alone I have nothing but the Light to guide me or influence me, hence I am on the immortal level of consciousness. Since man has the Spirit and the Mind that is God within him, the immortal consciousness is the true me. Therefore, I am who I am when no one is looking, when I am alone.Good answer. New insight for me.
"Who you are is 'what you do when nobody is looking'". - Such wise words! There's no fooling Him and there's no fooling ourselves. We know who we are and none of us are perfect. We are a work in progress, and if 'who we are' is not 'who we want to be', we have something to work towards. Interesting, thought provoking article. I'd be interested to know how your son responded to your comment.
My son 'heard' "you are what you do when nobody is looking". It needs to be a mantra. I will repeat it over and over when the necessity arises. It has given me something else to ponder (darn it I hate it when I have to think about who I really am). I hope that my son, eleven, can work it into his life.
We want your comments! If you can read this, you don't have javascript enabled, so you can't use this comment system. Please enable javascript.