Fireside Chat: What Makes A Man Who He Is?

It’s an age old question, one which has been offered so many answers by so many people over the years that it has been difficult to determine what an appropriate answer could be. I believe that the current social philosophy that race is the fiber of one’s being and that is what makes someone who they are is filled to the brim with low cunning, and with such falsehood that it astounds me. For me, I take a quote from Fight Club when I explain my philosophy for what makes someone who they are:

“We want you, not your money.
As long as you're at fight club, you're not how much money you've got in the bank. You're not your job. You're not your family, and you're not who you tell yourself.
You're not your name.
You're not your problems.
You're not your age.
You are not your hopes.
You will not be saved.
We are all going to die, someday.”

Some may think I’m crazy, but I take this quote as a roadmap for determining how I live my own life and how to determine whether or not others around me are living in a prison of their own creation. It’s a tough thing for others to grasp, but everything above is nothing more than something which the world places on you, a benefit or a burden which you yourself do not control. Some may be asking, “Well, if you have no direct control over your money, your job, your family, what you tell yourself, your name, your problems, your age, your hopes and you cannot be saved, then what DO you have control over?” You have control over what you think. What you think, you begin to believe, and what you begin to believe, you start to become.