Live out your true identity

By Jeff Becraft

Every morning at Our Place of Hope, we throw out a question of the day to start off the morning meeting. We allow the members to come up with that question.

I had been hanging on to a question for months, waiting for some morning for people to say, “Well, we don’t have a question today.” And that time came about a month or two ago. So I throw out my question: “What is your favorite GEICO commercial?” I was so excited about this question… I thought this was going to be a big hit. Well, it was a total bust. Nobody even cared. Most people simply said, “I don’t know.” Only one other person around the table in the morning meeting even had a commercial that they could tell us about.

Well, I knew mine. It is not just my favorite GEICO commercial; it is really my favorite commercial of all time… and I hardly even watch TV. Someone had to tell me about this years ago.

It is the camel coming in on a Wednesday to the office and asking everybody if they know what day it is – and that it is hump day. (If you want to see it for yourself, you can go to this link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G2s0RPrdB_8

There are some key life principles in this commercial. In fact, I just did a weekend camp with a children’s home in May, and we watched this commercial over and over again. (It never gets old…)

Here is the key: the camel is the only one who understands who he is. Everyone else is simply going through the motions. The camel understands who he was created to be and he is living that out. He is celebrating the day for what it is and that he gets to live in that day.

The camel gets absolutely no response from anybody else in the office. But he doesn’t allow what other people are doing or saying to deter him. It doesn’t slow him down in the least. At the end of the commercial, after he has wandered through the office having received no positive affirmation from anyone, he just enthusiastically declares, “Hump Day!… Yeah!”

He doesn’t let the opinion of other people shape who he is.

This is so important.

Many times we can let what other people think and say shape our opinions of ourselves and shape what we think or say in any given situation. Or it can be things we tell ourselves. So many people are in search of an identity and they will look to outward avenues (things that do not touch the core of our essence or who we really are) for what one author calls “the search for significance.”

But the camel… the camel is living out who he is and is rejoicing in the day. His significance is not coming from the reactions of others or the circumstances.

He also never complains. He doesn’t say, “Why do I have this hump on my back?” Or “Why do I have these big feet?” Or “How come I’m the only one who has four legs in here?” He is not spending his time doing that. He is not spending time in self-pity. He is living out who he is and what he was meant to be.

And that is a fun way to live. And there is great beauty in that. And that is how each of us should be. One person I know has said that the greatest gift you can give to the rest of the world is to live out your true identity.

So, if your day (or your life) is dragging a little bit… or a lot… (and it doesn’t really matter what day of the week it is)… you can remember that if you live out your true identity and celebrate each day, that day becomes “Hump Day!”

Jeff Becraft is the Director of Our Place of Hope located in Columbia, South Carolina, where people find encouragement to regain meaning, purpose, and hope for their lives. Jeff has dedicated much of his life to helping shift the vision of people’s lives. If you would like Jeff to speak to your group or event, you can connect with him at  [email protected].