A question as old as time. The time of humans, at least. Consider this: Roughly 14 billion years ago (give or take a couple hundred million years) the universe exploded into existence. What caused it to happen? No one knows. What came before? No one knows. About 5 billion years ago, remnants of that initial big bang began to swirl and spin around each other, forming what we call the solar system. Another billion years and the first evidence of life appears in the fossil record. Single-celled organisms that would grow, transform and evolve for billions of years more until, about a hundred thousand years ago, literally a blink of an eye in comparison, the first modern humans appeared on the plains of Africa. Those early humans were the first, and only, living creatures to develop consciousness. To become self-aware, not only that they were alive, but also that they were going to die. And we can imagine those first primitive people looking up at the stars and asking that fundamental question: Why am I here?
As I prepare for one of my favorite programs, IM Reset, I contemplate the several outcomes we see through this program. One of the key outcomes is access to new, higher emotional states, and a connection to who we are beyond the stuff of everyday life. It brings me back to my own beginnings, the months I spent in my parents' basement asking, Who am I? Why am I here? What is this experience of being alive that we all share, that connects us to one another, to nature and to the earth? This question – What the heck are we doing here, anyway? – has inspired philosophies, world movements, works of art and just about all of the world’s religions. Because when those first people looked up at the stars, they didn’t just ask the question; they also started trying to answer it.
Most anthropologists agree that written language began as a way of record keeping. It was important to keep track of grain stores and livestock and, of course, taxes. But it wasn’t long before people started also recording their thoughts and ideas, their own answers to the big question. Today, there are as many answers as there are people asking the question. A person could spend their entire life reading all of the written philosophies, studying all of the world’s religions and still not find the answer they’re looking for.
Many people find answers in one of the world’s major religions. Religion provides answers to the other big questions like, Where did we come from? and What happens when we die? But I’ve worked with people of all faiths who still struggle with the fundamental question of why. What I’ve come to believe over my years of studying the world’s philosophies and religions, is that they can only provide general answers to the why question: We’re here to learn and grow and improve, to contribute and participate, to love thy neighbor and honor thy father and leave the world a better place than we found it. And those are all great things that every one of us should be up to, but it doesn’t really answer, why are you, the person reading this right now, why are you here? Because the answer is different for every one of us.
At the core of what we do here at IMS is Vision. Creating vision begins with asking the question, Who am I? It’s my humble opinion that you will never find the answer to this question on the outside. No religious text, no self-help book, no obscure French philosopher can tell you who you’re supposed to be. That’s a question that only you can answer. And what I find, time and again, maybe 90 percent of the people I work with are absolutely terrified of answering the question. Where do I even begin? What if I’m wrong? What if I’m not the person I think I want to be?
I find that most of that fear and anxiety is the result of looking to the outside for answers. When we look to religion or philosophy or friends or family to define who we are, we are then constrained by the boundaries and expectations of others. So when we ask, What if I’m wrong? and What if I’m not the person I think I want to be?, what we’re really asking is, What if the church thinks I’m wrong? Or What if I’m not the person my parents or my boss or my spouse wants me to be? The truth is, we can’t be everything we think the world wants us to be, which is what I find many people are trying to do. And they’re driving themselves nuts in the process.
Instead, I would invite you to just name the person you want to be. To shed the expectations of others, to stop waiting for the answer to present itself, to stop struggling with what you’re meant to be (whatever that means), and simply make the statement, “I am…” What comes at the end of that sentence is whatever you want it to be. When you free yourself to create the You of your own design, you open the door to your highest self. And you’ll find the answer to the second question, Why am I here?: To do whatever it takes to become the person you want to be.
At IM Reset, we explore the experience of being, and upleveling that experience from stress, anxiety, overwhelm, and fear to something more expansive (and let's be honest, something more enjoyable) like joy, peace, and exuberance. And we don't stop there - we actually TRAIN to bring that expansive way of being HOME with you so you are a better human, parent, partner, colleague, driver. AND, just for good measure, we also address the container of your experience—this one body we get to live in.
It boggles the mind to think the atoms that we’re made of were created at the moment of the Big Bang. The probability of our very existence is so astronomical that it seems only logical there must be a reason for it. I believe that reason is to be the person we truly want to be. To create the life we truly want to live. In the grand scheme of things, we’re only here for a moment, so we may as well position ourselves and our nervous systems to thrive and, in the words of the great Mr. Spock, to live long and prosper. Click HERE to learn more about IMS Reset and sign up today!
