identity theft

by Alan Cohen

Identity theft is a very hot topic these days. Nasty hackers are stealing other folks' credit card numbers and posing as the owners to illicitly buy goods. Quite uncool.

There is an even more dangerous form of identity theft that you are already a victim of, one which runs far deeper than your credit card. You have been taught to believe that you are someone other than you are. I know this is sobering, since you think you are someone. But you are not who you have been told you are. You are someone better.

Grand theft identity begins soon after you arrive on earth, and intensifies with age. A participant in one of my seminars paid an unexpected visit to her son's religious school and found him sitting in a hallway garbage can. "What are you doing here?" she asked him. "I talked out in class and the teacher made me sit here as a punishment," the child answered. With that, the mother removed her son from the trash and the school. The school was guilty of identity theft.

A 21-year-old fellow at another seminar had been diagnosed with cancer at age 17. One day when Charles was scheduled for chemotherapy he learned there was a Grateful Dead concert in his town that night, and he decided that the concert would be more fun to attend. Charles' parents and doctor pleaded with him not to go to the concert, but he went. That night he started to feel better, and within a few months his cancer disappeared. Charles reclaimed his identity as a healthy kid. 

During last year's summer Olympics, U.S. gymnast Paul Hamm was favored to win the men's all-around, a series of five events. During the vault competition, Hamm slipped on his dismount and fell onto the judges' table. He was penalized severely and instantly dropped from 1st to 13th place. The television announcer grimly noted, "Paul Hamm will remember this error for the rest of his life."

With two events left in the competition, U.S. observers hoped he could miraculously work his way back to a bronze medal. Then, in the rings event, Hamm turned in a stellar performance. To everyone's amazement, Hamm emerged with the gold medal by a margin of 13/1000th of a point - the slimmest margin in Olympic history.

When the TV commentator noted that Hamm would remember his error for a lifetime, he attempted to perform on-the-air identity theft. Yet Hamm did not let the announcer steal his identity as a champion. Indeed he will always remember that night - not for his disgrace, but his triumph.

Take care that no one robs your identity as a whole, innocent, powerful, brilliant, creative being. Take special care not to speak of yourself as a loser, or do desperate things. The world can't afford another hacker.