My good friend Dami was the first person to send me feedback on the Identity Series. Come to think of it, he was the very first person to send an email with his thoughts on my blog. So before I go any farther, I’d like to say a special ‘thank you’ once again. 
The following is an excerpt from his last email on The Identity Series – 3:
If the environment has the potential to define or categorise me, how do I break out?
If my subconscious yearns for something greater, how do I trust it?
In all, how do I define myself apart from the parameters that have defined me in the past?
I am asking these questions because a series like these should be a platform to answer questions lurking in people’s minds. I should find laid down principles and answers if I were to be a hopeless or dejected person looking for direction. So my challenge to you is to guide me, not necessarily help me, find my identity and trust my person or like you say; be comfortable in my own skin.!
It takes a lot to overcome environmental influences. You must first be aware that they can shape your identity before you can actively accept or reject them, otherwise you just end up passively absorbing whatever comes your way. OK maybe not everything, but a fair amount anyway. In order for that awareness to arise, you need the desire to know yourself. You need to feel like there’s more to life than doing the same thing as everyone else. You gotta want something that speaks to you as an individual and makes you discover your true self. The only way to achieve any of the above is to look inward; take the time to meditate, pray, do whatever it takes to enter a quiet place and root around in your soul. The subconscious is always trying to tell us something and we must be on the lookout for its signs waiting to guide us on the path to self-knowledge and fulfilment.
Of course, identifying such signs and actually following them are two different things. Trusting the subconscious is necessary for greatness and forward movement. How can you tap into its vast well of potential if you don’t trust in it? How can you discover your identity if you don’t trust the inner voice answering your questions? We learn to trust the subconscious when we learn to recognise and embrace it. We develop such trust when we frequently set aside periods for reflection and introspection. In short, we study our inner workings and take it from there. You decide how far you’re willing to go with what you find. You break free of the boundaries that restricted you in the past when you decide to step beyond them. You step beyond them when you act on the results of introspection and reflection. You break free when you think free.
Kudos to whoever came up with this. So true.
LC, once again I say good work. I like.