The Identity Manifesto

 

Analyze your personality,

evaluate your gifts,

set your goals,

they say.

 

Just try harder.

Just dream bigger.

Fight for your voice to be heard above the fray.

 

But these prescriptions and platitudes don’t have any real power.

 

Self-focus is no real compass.

Self-empowerment is no true north.

Self-actualization is actually a cage.

 

We’re beating on the bars the gurus and influencers said would set us free,

but we’re shackled instead by the promotion of self, worship of money, and drive to succeed

lest our true worth and happiness be put under a microscope

and the tiny glass slide shows—nothing.

Empty.

 

But you were not created for empty.

You were not designed to stay caged in the culture of self.

You were made for life to the FULL.

 

You were created on purpose for breathtaking purpose.

(That’s not impotent lip service but proven truth.)

 

And the only way to know—truly know—who you are

and what you’re on this spinning orb of dirt to do

is to tune your ear to the Voice who spoke it all into existence.

The Voice who intentionally crafted you in the womb.

The Voice of unconditional love, compassion, redemption.

The Voice who imprinted his image on your DNA so your identity would be

more than likes, follows, and sales dollars.

Your legacy more than dust, bones, or a digital footprint.

 

The Voice alone can tell you your true name.

 

You must know your name to know your mission.

 

If you listen to the frenetic static of the world

for too long it starts to sound like a song.

But this lullaby will numb you, burn you out so fast

you’ll be out of the race for which you were made.

 

It’s time to know

—from your toes to your tongue, your gut to your prefrontal cortex—

who you are so you can make the mark only your heart beats to create.

 

Impact begins with identity.

 

Listen. Receive. Live full and free.

 

But know this:

Your name was not meant to remain in the echo chambers of your own heart.

Your purpose cannot be unleashed in isolation.

 

It’s time to offer your true self to the world.

Your identity is a gift to humanity.

We are lost without you. 

 

 

 

-Becky Keife-

Hope Wielder