Who you truly are?

“YOUR real self may be hiding somewhere, look for it within, when you find yourself, you can freely be what you want to be.”

–Michael Bassey Johnson

A few days ago, I was watching Moana (I’ve watched this movie a few times) to cool my head off after a debate with someone regarding religion. While watching, It came to my senses about these two fascinating characters named Te-Ka and Te-Fiti. What is fascinating about the two is that they are not two distinct entities, but two distinct or alternate forms of the same being. The two are perfect examples of a powerful metaphor for good and evil.

Te-Fiti portrays the good side (calm, kind, generous, peace-loving, forgiving, and full of love, light, and hope). While Te-Ka portrays the evil side (Anger, aggressive, and full of wrath, darkness, and anguish).

If you put this in a real-life experience, we all have Te-Ka and Te-Fiti within us. I remember a few months ago when my son asked me why we have it inside of us. I explain to him that we all are capable of both good and evil. We all have our inner demons inside of every one of us. When life does not treat us well, or we hit rough patches in life or we are wronged or we go through a sequel of our misfortunes, the Te-Ka in us takes over as we become harsh and furious and begin to hate everyone. We blame the situations, engage in self-pity, rage a mental war against people who have wronged us, and keep repeating our unfortunate memories. What we do not realize is, it’s not our past that is hurting us. It’s ourselves, meaning we are hurting ourselves by allowing the Te-Ka in us to take over Te-Fiti.

“What happens when we turn into a monster because people provoke you?” He asked. That was the moment when I paused and slowly looked him in the eyes and said, “Yes, anak. I did turn into a monster before because I let my Te-ka control me.” That question made me turn back to who I was once before. It brings me significant thoughts about not letting anyone bring out the worst in you and turn you into something you’re not, not letting your past waste your present and future, and not ruling someone without understanding their story and their agonizing past that has turned them into the monster they are.

Some people come into our lives to ruin us and change us for the worse, whether it is purposely or not, they trigger the Te-Ka in us. They bring out the worst in us, take everything from us, and leave us broken and trapped, eventually causing our true selves (Te-Fiti) to be concealed in the depths of our subconscious while the Te-Ka dominates us thoroughly and sometimes, we can be the one who brings out the worst in others, but we don’t realize it.

We hurt and ruin other people’s lives because we have blind spots. We either don’t realize when we’re being or doing evil or we think we are doing the right thing even if it is evil. There are times when the Te-Ka in us has taken over and we didn’t realize it. Whenever you feel that you have lost your true self (Te-Fiti) and (Te-Ka) in you has taken over, just so you know that this is not who you are. Your past does not define you.

Just remember what Moana says to Te-Ka:

“I have crossed the horizon to find you
I know your name
They have stolen the heart from inside you
But this does not define you
This is not who you are
You know who you are
Who you truly are…”

Ask yourselves, “Who you truly are?”