You 2.0

I remember when this photo was taken; it was my 35th birthday. The day was quite busy from the get-go and I was still in the office finishing up my WSU assignments that would be due that evening when our friends started coming over for the party. This was pretty much the norm and I had already gotten used to them calling me “Dues” at such times. It was definitely a time of intense learning in my life.

One thing that I didn’t even realize, however, was that I wouldn’t see myself in the pictures when I looked back at them after several years. I look now and I realize that the man in the picture isn’t me. I remember the things that are happening here, but that still isn’t me.

The thing is, our cells are in a constant race of regeneration. Some internal cells take a few days to freshen up while our skeletons take around ten years. But regardless, the majority of me from that picture does not exist anymore. So if somebody pointed at this picture and said “hey, that’s you,” they’d be wrong (unless they were referring to the neurons in my cerebral cortex, my enamel, or the cells on the inner lens of my eye because yes, that stayed the same). However, I still remember the day, the candles, the conversations, and information from the class.

This brings us to an important question: What are we if we're not the stuff of which we're made? Our memories, our skills, our habits, and our tastes exist and change despite our constant physical changes and yet, people still focus on the visible and the tangible in their lives. They often fail to realize that the things that they don’t see are at the very least as important as the things they do. We can even see this bias towards matter in our vocabulary with phrases like “concrete evidence”, “hard facts”, “solid advice”, etc.

Because of this human tendency, many believe only things that they have physically seen or experienced to be truly real. So if they hear somebody playing violin very well and decide to give it a try that results in a miserable screech, they decide that the violinist is talented and that they are not. That is now their reality. If they see a successful businessman and fail in their own first attempt, they decide that the businessman has something that they don’t. That too is now their reality. In both cases, the victim to failure sees his situation as something static and final.

This is, in fact, very far from the truth. We all know that if any person practices long and hard enough, they can become a musician and if they train and eat properly, they can become an athlete. The same principles can be applied any skill including selling, running a business, writing, leading, etc. It all just takes determination and practice. These intangible skills (like our tangible reality) can change and will change. I am sure that there are very few habits, tastes, and even memories that have remained fully unchanged for many years. There is always at least a little change. If more force was applied, the changes were more drastic and quicker. Both tangible and intangible sides of our reality can be influenced, bent, and sculpted.

So if you know some things about yourself that you believe you can’t do, I encourage you to re-think that. Any habit can be broken, any skill learned, any obstacle conquered, and any goal reached; you only need to keep at it.