Letting Go Of Who We Try To Be

“When I let go of what I am, I become what I might be”

-Lao Tzu

 

Most of us don’t do it consciously but all of us strive to maintain a certain image.  I was once asked who I would be if I didn’t have my beard.  The last time I was clean shaven was 1978.  My children, who are both in their thirties, have never seen me without a beard.  One of them once said, “You can’t shave off your beard.  If you did you wouldn’t be my dad”!  If I did shave off my beard and let go of my “old hippie” persona, who and what would I really be?  I think if I shaved off my beard, my ponytail, and let go of my “old hippie” persona, I might be a Buddhist monk.  However, even that is an illusion.  If I am truly honest, I look the way I look because I like to look this way.  I like it that some people think I am wise and a bit of a Zen Master.  I like be thought of as a free spirited hippie type.  Everyone, including me, wears a variety of masks, costumes, and even disguises.  We all live our illusions.  When we let go of our self-images, who are we?  Who might we become if we weren’t so busy pretending we are something else?