It’s popularly believed that each and everyone of us has a doppelganger…that somewhere in the world right now there is a person who is our physical double (identical twins aside of course).
This other person is supposed to look so much like us that determining just who’s who becomes difficult if not impossible. It’s a fanciful prospect often played up in the media. And indeed it’s highly likely that there are people out there who have physical characteristics that closely resemble our own. But that’s all there is to it.
The fact of the matter is that each of us is entirely unique, the very specific result of centuries of nature and years of nurture.
And that’s a marvellous thing because it’s that uniqueness that makes us special as individuals. We all have a place and we all have a role – a reason for being; a contribution to make.
Very few of us will ever achieve eminence just as few of us will ever achieve notoriety. The vast majority will live their lives somewhere between those two parameters.
Some people will struggle with issues of self identity while others will spend an inordinate amount of their time trying to find their way though the maze and confusion of the life experiences of those who surround them.
It’s important, however, for the focus to – at least occasionally – return to self. No-one knows us more than we know ourselves. We know our strengths and weaknesses and we need to appreciate ourselves for who we are and the potential we have.
Self-discovery is every bit as much a life journey as self-appreciation because change is always happening both around us as well as inside us. But the two go together. One should not be devalued at the expense of the other.
Life circumstance and situation is determined by inputs including opportunity and occasion but that doesn’t devalue the worth of the individual.
Gary Bentley Counselling 