Who Are You?

“We Are” is the message that stands on the Penn State campus, and is there to remind those who view the fifteen-foot sculpture, that being a part of this institution is about being purposeful in the way we live our lives. With apologies to all of my Michigan friends, I’m going to borrow this concept to share my thoughts on how this might help those of us wanting to create a more purposeful experience of life, and do so in a way we that we can be proud of.

The story behind this piece of art and this slogan goes back to the days when segregation was the norm. Most institutions of higher learning would not admit African American students, and therefore it was rare to see someone of color on campus, and even rarer to have an African American represent the school as an athlete. To Penn State’s credit, they rejected this prejudice and invited a gifted athlete from Florida to be a part of their football team. Unfortunately, at that time, other schools were not as enlightened, and informed Penn State that they could not bring their black players to a game that was scheduled to be played in Miami. The players got together and voted that if everyone couldn’t play, no one would play, and refused to give in to the bigotry.

It was here that the slogan “WE ARE – PENN STATE” was born and became a statement that declared we are people of character. Sadly, this statement became even more important to this community when it had to recover from the Jerry Sandusky scandal. As a result, a sculpture was commissioned to represent the importance of this declaration of character, and this is what now stands on the campus. Fittingly, the sculpture is made of polished steel so that people actually see themselves reflected in the words “We Are.”

So, how is this relevant to those of us wanting to create a more purposeful life? Well, I’m a big fan of becoming very purposeful with respect to the thoughts, emotions, and actions we bring to life. In fact, for those who follow my “Life from the Top of the Mind” philosophy, you know that this purposefulness actually comes from a specific part of the brain (the neocortex), and that my method is all about accessing this clear, confident, creative, and compassionate brain as we go about living our lives.

I believe that to the degree we are willing to take 100% responsibility for who we are, what we think, and what we do (in a way we would recommend to those we love), that this will have tremendous impact on the quality of our lives. In fact, I call this awareness of the qualities and characteristics we bring to life our “Highest Purpose” in order to empathize the importance of this purposeful self-definition, and encourage those in my seminars and those who read my books to go into each moment clear about how they want to define themselves (versus being defined by the situations and people they encounter).

If this purposeful self-definition appeals to you, I suggest we begin to look at life in this way. If, indeed every thought, emotion, and action makes a statement about who we are and who we are becoming, I suggest that we go into every day clear about the statement we want to make… not just to others, but to ourselves. In other words, I suggest that we take the words, “We are” very seriously, knowing that whatever follows that statement will have tremendous influence on how we live our lives. And, if we are willing to make these decisions in a way we would teach and/or recommend to those we love, this will give us the clarity to know that who we are and who we are becoming is the best that we can be.