"Who am I?" versus "What am I?"

Treating yourself as a subject, rather than an object, matters... A LOT!

Special note: This is an edited excerpt from a draft of my new book on the spirituality of movement and sport. Please consider supporting this site with a subscription, free or paid, to support the work and stay in touch.

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Don’t tell me that you splurged last night and ate the whole ice cream sundae, and that you will have to do penance today with an extra long workout.  Then you say, “Well, Zeus, not everyone can be like you and have self-control.  That’s who I am.” 

That’s who you are?  Really?  No!  That is what you are.  You are not your impulses.  You are not your shell, your feelings, or your thought.  You are the spirit that gives rise to movement and awareness.  I’ll tell you a secret:  I have no need for self-control, but I will tell you this, I do recognize the difference between what I am and who I am and that is a great skill/insight to possess. 

“What” I am is me looking at me as an object to get motivated, a “doer” unto my body who doesn’t really have the will to move today and throws up big barriers to “get me out” of having to respond to the pressure I place on myself to do something. So I make up a story to get me out of doing anything at all:

If I commit to movement/exercise, I have to do a 2 hour workout. I don’t have the time or energy for that kind of workout. I’d really like to, but there is my job and the kids and they have to take priority. It’s a shame, but I am going to have to say “no” to movement. 

“Who” I am is a guy who really enjoys moving.  If I don’t feel very motivated to run or workout I know I can always benefit from a short walk around the neighborhood or to the local park, so out I go.  No self-control needed, just expression of joy in movement.  No expectation.  Just a steady, consistent looking forward to my enjoyable meditative walk where I can be myself WITHOUT any pressure at all.

Do you see the difference?

“What” you are is the representation, the label, the judgment you make of yourself. “Who” you are is the moving, breathing, living, loving person. 

I passed a person on the trail today missing an arm.  Missing an arm is what that person is, not who they are.  It doesn’t define her, it barely even confines her. She is the who out walking in the woods connecting to all around her. Disabled, or female or male or black or white or unschooled or sick or healthy, all of these are what you are.  The soul in the breathing core of all those labels and descriptions is who you are. 

To all of you taking those selfies every two seconds:  That is not who you are.  That is what you are.  That person 120 pounds overweight who takes a walk around the block.  Overweight is what he is.  Walking around the block is who he is.  Keep walking, keep being who, keep expressing the spirit inside and nothing will overcome you. 

You may lapse, you may slide, you may fail, you may ride, but let that spirit express itself, the divine spark inside radiate outward in joyful movement and stillness of mind.  Let fall all the obsessions and objects of thought, the worries and regrets that turn you into a walking “what.” 

Let the spirit express itself through movement that comes from the deep joy of you, and expression will surpass both control and impulse.  Let’s stop looking at ourselves and each other as objects from the outside-in, the “what,” and start looking to the inside, the “who.”  Then let the two meet the who infused into the what, giving it heart and life.  From this place of spirit, from this place of joy, share your life. 

All blessings, Zeus