People training

[Tom Fox]

. . . . when this little undefined self goes out into the world to
explore and discover who it is, one of the first things it bumps into
are other people. All these other people, who are almost totally
identified with their own ego consciousness, start telling you who you
are. The paradox is that none of them know who they are, but they are
experts on you! This stage of development is sometimes referred to as
�people training.� Everyone is telling you who you are, and how you
should act. They are even telling you what you are going to be when you
grow up! All these voices are informing you, �You�re a nice boy or a
nice girl;� or �You�re just like your father.� �I love you when you
giggle.� �You�re going to be a teacher just like me when you get
bigger.� On and on; they never stop.

Because you are like little sponges at this period of your lives, little
by little you take in these messages and begin to hold onto them. All
these �things� other people are telling you become your idea of who you
are. You become identified with all these roles you play, and you are
taught to especially identify with your behavior. You become �good� or
�bad.� Your identity becomes dependent on what you do. You begin to lose
track of who you really are.

from "Christ In Training" by Gerry Boylan
http://www.scribd.com/doc/28902853/Christ-in-Training-Large-Print