Our genetic map makes us human. Our physical and emotional genomes establish the baseline for us to operate. When we strike out in the world, we seek out vivid encounters with other people and nature that speak loudest to ourselves. What we make of our brilliant experiences modulates who we become. The way we think, feel, and express emotions enables us to personalize our experiences.

It is a worthy quest to not simply develop a sense of identity, but become the magnanimous version of the self.

Assuming that external physical causes do not entirely proscribe the outcome of our life journey, we have some say in not only what we do, but also in determining what situations we find ourselves needing to respond, and a combination of our conscious and unconscious responses continue to shape our being.

A strict self-image demonstrates a predisposition to maintain a rigid explanation and definition of a person. Our self-image becomes self-perpetuating because of the tendency of the mind to exhibit partiality regarding what we attend to and a preference in what we are prepared to accept as true about the world and ourselves.

We must live a genuine life in order to discover personal happiness and self-fulfillment. Understanding that a person is living a lie is the first step into realizing what is possible. No matter how frightful such a proposition is, we must dare to be an original self.

A person without a crystalline sense of self lives a mythless existence; they lack a definitive path to follow in life. Deprived of a solid sense of self, dispossessed of a connection to the past, destitute of a grounding sense in the present, a person leads a leaden and aimless existence.

We tell stories that help define us by unveiling the role we played in our life altering events. We are the product of stories that we tell other people and replay in our minds. We are essentially the character that we can describe through our stories.

Americans with their fixation on individualism might be the nation that flaunts the sharpest sense of self of any people. Ask any American who they are and they will undoubtedly give you a quick synopsis of their personal identity markers including a description of their age, education, occupation, physical skills, mental abilities, values, hobbies, and causes that they support or oppose.

Identity and self-concept flower from common seeds. Conception of self-image stems largely upon what we value and how we wish the world to perceive us. Identity undoubtedly includes what we do, where we are from, and how successful we are. A decided majority of Americans identify themselves by their accomplishments, not by their failures.