I am!
by John R. Barker

I am.

I am a man.
I am blond.
I am a husband.
I am a coach.

I, like you, hold a long list of identities.  These beliefs about who I am are based upon my experiences of life.

These beliefs about who I am also shape the choices I make, the actions I take and ultimately create my destiny – the legacy of my life.

The great philosopher Neville wrote, “The very center of consciousness” – and nothing exists but that which we are conscious of – “is the feeling of I am.   I may forget who I am, where I am, what I am, but I cannot forget that I am.”

I believe strongly in the power of positive thinking, but I point out that Neville wrote, “The very center of consciousness is the feeling I am.” 

When someone asks, “How are you today?” we reply by saying, “I’m great” or “I feel great.”  We never say, “I’m thinking great today!”

We act upon our feelings.  If I feel powerful, I act powerful.  If I feel sad, I act sad.

Our feelings grow out of our attitudes.  Our attitudes grow out of our thoughts.  And, our thoughts grow out of our beliefs about who we are.

Neville wrote:  “Everything depends upon its attitude towards itself;  that which it will not affirm as true of itself cannot awaken in its world.”

The truth is I am.

The identities I subscribe to only represent a minute portion of the potential I hold. 

Your potential is limited only by your imagination and faith – your concept of yourself and the degree to which you believe it is true.

By recognizing this truth, your awareness allows you to choose new identities.  Who I am is far greater than who I consider myself to be.

For example, I can take a bucket full of the ocean and declare, “This is the ocean!”   True, it is the ocean.  But, it only represents a miniscule portion of the ocean as a whole.

A bucket full of the ocean may put out a small fire, but the ocean as a whole moves continents.

Many of us do not recognize we are oceans.  We put ourselves in buckets, enabling ourselves to put out small fires when, by acknowledging and feeling the true power, the full power of who we are we could move continents.

When the weak man declares, “I am strong” and he feels it, his world shifts.  He no longer experiences his life as a person who has self-labeled himself as weak.  Others may say he is weak, but it is his choice to agree, to assume that identity.

Each of us is the potential of being whatever we can imagine.

Who you are today – and you may love who that is – is a result of who you believe yourself to be.

Take time today to dream.  Dream about who you would be if you saw no limitations or barriers to who you are.  Dream about who you would be if you recognized yourself as an ocean.

Your thoughts and feelings are truly powerful enough to move continents, to create whatever you desire. 

The true potential of who you are begins – and ends – with three simple letters, that produce two powerful words and one simple truth.  I am.