Who am I? I am the story I tell myself. We are the story we tell ourselves.

You want to know yourself; you want to discover who you are, or what constitutes your self-identity? Pay attention to what kind of stories you tell. If your stories are of bringing happiness to those around you, making a difference in someone’s life, helping fellow sentient beings you are a great person. That’s who you are. That’s your self-identity.

The stories you tell provides a window to your subconscious minds. When you reflect on these stories, you learn about yourself – your values, your intentions, and what are meaningful to you.

The British cultural studies scholar, Stuart Hall, defined national identity as “the story we tell ourselves”. As a nation, we are the stories we tell ourselves. 

Who am I? I am the story I tell

Who do I want to be here on?You want to know how you will do in life, or what future has in store for you? Pay attention to what kind of stories you tell yourself – inside of yourself – that story that keeps replaying in your head. Quite often it is a story about blame games where everyone is wrong, where everything is unfair, and where everything is someone’s fault, your future will be like the present. You are stuck.

The beauty of telling stories is that you don’t have to keep playing the sad stories in your head. You can create a new one or change the story. Your past does not necessarily make you who you want to be. You can reset the story. When we change the story we tell, we change the way we see the world, and our place within it.

Back in the early 2000s, when I was continuously bullied in BBS, I kept telling myself: “It is not fair. I built this place. It was a small radio station when I came in. I changed it. I brought the technology. I brought in the foreign donors. I started the TV. I started the FM radio.” That story came rewinding in my brain

Then one fine day I told myself: “Wait! Is my destiny (lungten in Bhutanese) here coming to an end? Is the universe telling me something? Is my fate calling me somewhere?” Maybe. I thought. 

I took a week leave, flew to Thailand to reflect in peace. Then after few days, instead deciding to come back, I mailed in my resignation. I felt a huge cloud cleared over me. I felt free. I called my friends in Europe. Someone sent me an air ticket, and gave me a place to stay. I wandered there around for a month. I had lived in Italy for 8 years as a student and knew that continent well and had enough friends who could feed me for months, if I wanted.

The year was 2006..

So, what is your story?