Know Who You Are – an excerpt from my book soon to come out

Know Who You Are – an excerpt from my book soon to come out

A 40-year-old male came to see me.

He looked very nervous, anxious, and depressed.

“So, what brings you here?” I asked.

“Doc, can you help me? Can you prescribe some Xanax for
me?” he said.

“Why? What happened?” I asked, surprised, as few people
came specifically to see me for such complaints compared to
others who brought them up in addition to their regular check–
ups.

“Doc, I was married for ten years, and my wife left me.
Then, I had a girlfriend for three years, but she left me.
Now, I am left alone.
My kids are grown up and busy with their own lives.
I am left alone. I feel very lonely. I can’t take this anymore,”
he explained.

“Well, Steve (not his real name), listen, I don’t believe in
prescribing medications for anxiety, etc.

They have unnecessary side effects, both short-term and
long-term.

But let’s talk. I have something to explain to you.

It is intense, so, listen to me carefully,” I said.
“Sure,” he said.
“Say you eat an apple. Why do you eat an apple?” I asked.
“To get some energy,” he said.
“What’s in an apple? Carbon atoms?” I asked.
“Yes,” he replied.“And you breathe all the time, right?
What do you get from breathing? Oxygen?” I asked.
“Correct,” he replied.
“That carbon from the apple and oxygen from the air provide
you energy and eventually become carbon dioxide, which
leaves your body when you breathe out, right?” I asked.
“Yes,” he replied.
“What happens to that carbon dioxide?
Maybe a tree will pick it up and make another apple, right?” I
asked suggestively.
“Yes,” he replied.
“And maybe I will eat that apple, and the carbon atom in that
apple will come into my body.
The same carbon atom that was in your body is now in mine.
The same carbon atom that was making your body is making
mine now.
We inhale and exhale all the time.
We drink, and we urinate.
We eat, and we defecate.

A continuous cycle is going on all the time, surprisingly,
keeping our body frame more or less the same.

But our body is not a fixed, static entity; it is part of one
gigantic, perpetual, inexplicable process.

We make new cells and drop old cells.

Skin sheds cells constantly, and new cells keep coming
continually.

The liver keeps making new cells, and so does the heart,
shedding old cells. Science says this: Our whole body gets 100% recycled every seven years, and we don’t even know it.

And yet, whenever someone asks you, ‘WHO ARE YOU?’
you will always point a finger toward your body and say,
‘This is me.’

Your body is recycled every second, and total replacement
takes seven years. We have no control over this; the world
moves on constantly.

The Steve that was seven years ago is not the same Steve
today.

Seven more years later, you will look at your new body and
still call it Steve,” I explained.

He was listening very attentively.

Finally, I said the punchline—
“So, my question is, if even your body is not yours, what
makes you think that wife was YOURS?
What makes you think that girlfriend was YOURS?
What makes you think those children are YOURS?

Your wife, girlfriend, children, and even you have been
recycled and entirely replaced in seven years.

They have found their happy world, and yet, you have
chosen to stay depressed.

Steve, nothing is YOURS in life, not even your body.

So whenever, whatever, or whoever comes into your life,
enjoy them, then and there.

Life brought your wife, girlfriend, and children into your life, and you enjoyed spending time with them, but life eventually took them away.

If they were ‘yours,’ they would have stayed with you forever,
but they have not.”He kept thinking.

I continued, “But there is something that is YOURS.
Your soul is yours, and it is hidden within you.

That is the REAL Steve.

Your soul is yours and will always stay with you.

Don’t get depressed about YOUR losses because they were never YOURS in the first place.

How can you LOSE something that was never YOURS to
begin with?” I explained.

He abruptly ended our conversation, said, “OK, Doc, I got it,” and left.

I saw a different look on his face.

Two weeks later, I got a surprise call from his mom.

“Doc, what did you tell Steve?” she asked.
“Why? I just gave him a little piece of my mind. That’s all. I
didn’t say anything else. Is he OK?” I asked amusingly.

“Doc, he is like a changed man. He is so confident now, not
depressed anymore. Whatever you told him did the job.
Thank you,” she said.

I smiled.

We have created this seemingly unbreakable bond with our
body, which is beyond being a bond because a bond is
between two entities.

But, beyond the bond, it has become our identity; WE HAVE
BECOME “IT,” and we don’t see anything wrong with it.

Under this illusion, we keep living our lives, and the soul
remains forgotten; we never realize the need to search for it.

Spirituality says you can experience this unbound, free
consciousness via meditation, which is your true identity.

Knowing this frees you from the chains of your limited
identity.