WHAT IS MINE - IS ME

How we see ourselves is a complex picture that we acquire as we go through life's experiences. We assume our social identity from membership in a specific social group, and that could be the culture we are born into, or something we sign up for, like a sports team. (Henri Tajfel and John Turner). We gain our sense of self from the profession we have and the clubs we belong to. In modern day parlance, we hear people say that they are looking for 'their tribe', to find where they 'belong'. Russel Belk argues that we develop a very intimate relationship with the things we buy, because what we buy extends the 'self', and almost becomes a part of us, to such an extent that whatever I own becomes 'me'. People who strongly identify with their car, for example, feel a sense of personal injury if the car is damaged or defaced.

- ARUNA LADVA

How many times a day do we say something equivalent to '...that's mine!' - a particular chair, a parking space, a fountain pen, the car? We need to spend a little time to contemplate this, because it does not seem right to base a sense of self on anything that is temporal and temporary, because we are eternal. The possessions we have, the money we earn, the children in our care, are all given to us in trust; to either care for and nurture, or to put to greater use in the service of humanity.

So, what is truly mine? The virtues are truly mine.