“Remember who you are and whose you are” This quote from Sister Thea Bowman was used by a student at my former school as part of her 8th-grade promotion speech. What a fitting piece of advice during a season of transition. I have yet to meet someone who is 100% excited about the change. Transition and change, even good ones, can be difficult and uncomfortable. We feel uncertain as we await what lies ahead in the “next phase”. Growth comes from those tense moments in our lives. We have to risk the security of the known to venture into the unknown possibilities that lie ahead for us.
In a recent chat with a dear friend, she shared that she sets an intention for the day as to how she will fill her own cup. In a season of transition and change in my life, I will take this advice and remember who I am as a beautiful beloved Black Catholic daughter of God and that I am His. I am called to be my whole self and be all that God calls me to be in the present moments of my life. In that knowledge, I find comfort in the unknowing and focus on my present encounters. I know that student and her peers find comfort in knowing that in all things the Holy Spirit is a traveling partner guiding us along our journey. And yet the tension we face comes from more than just the unknowing of what lies ahead.
It is a sense of uprootedness. Like plants whose roots might need to be cleared of infestation or repotted, we too might need to be shaken up or forced into unfamiliar circumstances that will allow us to flourish. Whether it is for better or worse, having an understanding of the purpose and knowing who you are at your core is key. Whether you have faith or not, it is important to understand your purpose and value cannot be tied to external things. Jobs, accomplishments, and material possessions all can come and go, but who you are at your core remains in spite of all of those things. I often tell students I mentor to name things they like about themselves that don’t have to do with winning a game or having the best grades. They find it difficult to do. As we live our lives we are conditioned to measure our success in terms of output. Relationships become transactional. We then tie our worth to those things as well.
We are more than our outputs. In some phases of our lives, we won’t have much to “give” to the world and we are no less worthy or valuable in those moments. Whether we are suffering a loss, rebuilding our mental health, adjusting to parenting, or re-investing in ourselves as we pivot into a new area of focus. Ask yourself, who am I truly, and if faith is a part of your daily practice…is who you are representative of who God is calling you to be?