By Bal Krishna Parajuli

At some point in life, almost everybody asks him or herself: who am I? Why am I here?

Everyone experiences life in his or her own way, and that experience is that person's truth. For a spiritual person, the answer to the question may be: my purpose is to know and worship God. For that person, life goes beyond this life, and continues after death. For another person, death is the end of everything.

'Abdu'l-Bahá said, "If we say this lamp is the return of that of last night, or that the last year's flower hath returned in the garden, in this sense the return of the individual, or identity, or personality is not meant; nay, rather, it is intended that the same qualities and states existing in that lamp or flower."

Can it be said that all humans are the same? Every time a flower blossoms in the garden, it is not the flower of yesterday. A new flower has come up. The world of human beings is also as a garden—flowers are appearing and disappearing each day, but each possesses distinct quality. Each of us is a unique creation of God. There has never been another person like each of us in the entire past, nor will there be in the future.

The identity of an individual is deeply related to "self," which has two meanings. In the Bahá'í writings, one meaning is the identity of the individual created by God. This is the "self" mentioned in such passages as, "he hath known God who hath known himself."

The other self is the ego—the dark, animalistic nature in each one of us, a lower nature that can develop into a monster of selfishness and brutality. It is this aspect of our natures we struggle against in order to strengthen and free the spirit within us, and to help it to attain perfection.

'Abdu'l-Bahá also said, "The wrong in the world continues to exist just because people talk only of their ideals, and do not strive to put them into practice. If actions took the place of words, the world's misery would very soon be changed into comfort."

To create identities of our own, we need to do so through our deeds, and not only by our words. People are tired of words—they want to see real examples in their lives. Actions give a real impression of who a person is, and a picture of their true identity.

The Bahá'í Faith encourages each one of us freely to investigate the truth. If your mind is not free of prejudices and biases, how can it know its own identity? We need to consider and try to understand everyone, but follow no one. We have to follow only one person, and that is ourselves. On the other hand, we live in this world in a given time frame. Something has become the past and something is in the future. Between these, we have a tiny moment known as the present, which goes as soon as it comes. We make our identity during this short span of time.

Bahá'u'lláh told people that the God created humans noble and unique. In a sense, each person has his own distinct identity. But how do we expose our hidden talents and capacities? We have free will to drive our life in a desired direction. Some people become shining stars, and others struggle to do what they want to achieve. We are fully responsible, ourselves, with how we want to use our lives.

When we consider the question of our identity, we should also consider life's purpose. We must take a moment and consider what "purpose" means.  Usually it is understood in the context of function. Our purpose in life determines our identity, and a person's identity comes with achievements in life. Life is full of struggle and potential to grow up, to the end. With the passing of time, our identity grows. But, that can only be half-truth. Real identity comes through hard work and effort; otherwise the whole human race would be the same.

As God has given unique qualities to each of us, we should be fully aware of our potential, and move forward to achieve what is destined for us. Life is  too short to waste it. We have to strive to make it more useful and fruitful, creating our own footprints in this world. From today, what do we want to be known for?