Individuality and Anxiety

[Nanotwerp]

I don’t understand if I’m actually an individual or not; if my personality is even my own. I’ve been recently reminded that we are born a ‘blank slate’, meaning we learn through our environment, slowly grasping to other’s customs and habits. I feel like I’m just a parasitic leech that grew to become its own ‘person’. Are we as humans really different from another, or are we a huge crowd with no individuality? Does God really make us different from one another? Are we really that special? I guarantee there’s another person with an almost exact same personality as me; this, in a way, makes me less ‘special’, in my own eyes. What about in heaven? Will we just be a crowd under the beatific vision; not as individuals, but members of a common crowd? I could be but one person out of possible millions who make it to heaven. Are there individual sheep in the flock of it all? If it were, I want to be the sheep that stands out of the flock, to be one of a kind; that seems rather impossible now and forever. Pray a prayer to obtain graces; now what? I put the mail in the mailbox, just to get no reply back. I guess there’s no reason to pray if God only answers prayers when he wants to. Maybe I could have been born more favorable in God’s eyes, like Mary, the Apostles, or the people he let witness miracles; sadly, I’m not. I’m just another human that might receive beatific vision, or might suffer eternal damnation, in the whole scope of things.

 

[GEddie]

I don’t understand if I’m actually an individual or not; if my personality is even my own. I’ve been recently reminded that we are born a ‘blank slate’, meaning we learn through our environment, slowly grasping to other’s customs and habits. I feel like I’m just a parasitic leech that grew to become its own ‘person’. Are we as humans really different from another, or are we a huge crowd with no individuality? Does God really make us different from one another? Are we really that special? I guarantee there’s another person with an almost exact same personality as me; this, in a way, makes me less ‘special’, in my own eyes. What about in heaven? Will we just be a crowd under the beatific vision; not as individuals, but members of a common crowd? I could be but one person out of possible millions who make it to heaven. Are there individual sheep in the flock of it all? If it were, I want to be the sheep that stands out of the flock, to be one of a kind; that seems rather impossible now and forever. Pray a prayer to obtain graces; now what? I put the mail in the mailbox, just to get no reply back. I guess there’s no reason to pray if God only answers prayers when he wants to. Maybe I could have been born more favorable in God’s eyes, like Mary, the Apostles, or the people he let witness miracles; sadly, I’m not. I’m just another human that might receive beatific vision, or might suffer eternal damnation, in the whole scope of things.

You have a body.

That alone makes you somebody.

No one else can live life from within you; that makes you a distinct mind, as well.

Personality is not that important; it is just the public surface of our mind, like the surface of a miles-deep ocean, or the top of an iceberg. Even if someone else had your personality, they will not have lived your life in your body, so will not have your memories or your mind.

You are you; you have a human body; you are some**body; **and that alone qualifies you for the resurrection unto Eternity. Where you go from there is up to you.

ICXC NIKA

 

[brigid12]

They did a study of twins who were separated immediately following birth. They all grew up to have identical lives. Both/all had spouses who did the same work, they did the same work, etc. Just goes to show how much genetics have to do with how we turn out. So we are certainly all individual (even twins have some differences.) We are ‘special’.

Remember that He counts every hair on each ones head (mine is getting awfully thin tho’), so each one of us is special in their own way to God.

 

[ClearWater]

I don’t understand if I’m actually an individual or not; if my personality is even my own. I’ve been recently reminded that we are born a ‘blank slate’, meaning we learn through our environment, slowly grasping to other’s customs and habits. I feel like I’m just a parasitic leech that grew to become its own ‘person’. Are we as humans really different from another, or are we a huge crowd with no individuality? Does God really make us different from one another? Are we really that special? I guarantee there’s another person with an almost exact same personality as me; this, in a way, makes me less ‘special’, in my own eyes. What about in heaven? Will we just be a crowd under the beatific vision; not as individuals, but members of a common crowd? I could be but one person out of possible millions who make it to heaven. Are there individual sheep in the flock of it all? If it were, I want to be the sheep that stands out of the flock, to be one of a kind; that seems rather impossible now and forever. Pray a prayer to obtain graces; now what? I put the mail in the mailbox, just to get no reply back. I guess there’s no reason to pray if God only answers prayers when he wants to. Maybe I could have been born more favorable in God’s eyes, like Mary, the Apostles, or the people he let witness miracles; sadly, I’m not. I’m just another human that might receive beatific vision, or might suffer eternal damnation, in the whole scope of things.

We are all different and special. We are made in the image and likeness of God, himself.

Even with our fingerprints, they are like snowflakes in that in all the countless ones, no two are identical. They are all unique.

Mary was very special and unique, favored, but she also had one of the biggest crosses to bear, as well.

The apostles also were favored in knowing Christ but they ALL suffered tremendously, some crucifixion and martyrdom, rejection, certainly and more.

Those who were choosen in this way had a path that was brimming over with sorrow and suffering. We are each given according to our abilities. We weren’t chosen like Mary, probably because we couldn’t handle that.

I know I couldn’t have done like Mary or the apostles. I am lucky if I can carry the cross God assigned to me.

I believe we are loved, even if it doesn’t also seem like it.

 

[ready]

We are all born different, each with his own traits and genetic makeup. Yes, our environment can influence us and have its part in shaping us to a certain degree, but we are each endowed with free will which allows us to shape our environment and to have influence over it. You have a choice of going to heaven or hell, neither will be wrongfully imposed upon you. You have a dignity as a baptized person and God loves you very much, so you are very special. In heaven we all will maintain our different appearances and degrees of love, but our bodies will be glorified and extremely beautiful, more beautiful than they are now. People in heaven and hell are individuals, each one of them will be given what they have merited by their willful thoughts, words and actions – with greater glory merited for some, and greater suffering merited for others. God bless you.

 

[jimmy]

The question is, what defines who you are? Is it your preferences for certain foods, music or movies? Or is it something deeper? Most people seem to be clones because they have nothing they will live or die for beyond their own vanity. The only difference between them is their preferences. But maybe there is something more that defines a person. Like your family and your faith. At the end of the day a steelers fan is no different than a cowboys fan. What makes them different is where they come from and where they are going.

You might like kierkegaards writings. They are dense but they are worth reading. He definitely stands against the crowd. There is a short article by him called ‘The Crowd is Untruth’.