YOUR IDENTITY CRISIS IS DESTROYING YOUR HEALTH

The False Identity We Wear

Dr Pompa 0:00

I told myself I had a false identity, so even we can put false identities on ourselves. And mine was I'm stupid, I'm dumb. I have literally file boxes in my head of categories, topics, and I can put new old ideas with new ideas and create new things. That gift is the superpower of my dyslexia. As we walk in life, if we're intentional about figuring out who God created us to be, that's our true identity. God absolutely shows us who we are oftentimes in the struggles. Identity, tattoos, cars, shoes, whatever it is, many of these things are just part of us finding our true identity. So not a negative, it's a search for who God created us to be.

Tattoos, Lymph Nodes, And Cancer Risk

Dr Pompa 0:53

Do you have tattoos or someone that you know? Of course you do. Okay, I did this video. I hope my team is putting this video up right now. It was on Instagram, and I talked about that even little tattoos increase a cancer called lymphoma. And it was a new study that showed that literally there's certain immune cells that basically break down the color, the toxins that are in tattoos, and they go right into your lymph nodes. And that is why they believe it's leading to cancer and the increase in cancers, lymphoma, et cetera. So, but I went further in that video warning that even small tattoos are linked to this problem, especially later in life, and can even lead to autoimmune conditions, but unknowing to the person who would have a tattoo. So obviously, I'm not a fan. Um, and I want to say this at the top of the video, that I took some heat, I'm sure for that, because we have a lot of people who love their tattoos, but I said something else that I took some heat on, but I'm gonna stand by it. But I I'm standing by it, but I'm gonna give a further explanation.

Why Tattoos Can Signal Identity

Dr Pompa 2:05

I said tattoos beyond the health issue, I think affect something called identity, meaning that it's an identity issue. And oh boy, did I ever hear it. Um, because I guess that without further explanation, it sounded like I was criticizing people um that get tattoos because it's identity. Well, let me say this right off the top. All of us, including myself, have identity issues, and we express those many different ways. Okay, so I put myself in this category as I would anybody. That said, my explanation is this is that tattoos are typically just we're looking for some type of identity, right? And we're we're doing it in maybe the car you drive, right? Maybe it's the house you buy, maybe it's the shoes you wear, the jacket. You could say I have reach for identity because you know I'm always wearing a nice, nice jacket or something of that sort. And I would be like, fair enough, fair enough, because we all look to support our identity, in most cases, false identities. I'm gonna get there by things that we do and say. So that's human. So let's be real about tattoos and go, we are looking for some type of identity. Sometimes, and by the way, people that have got tattoos, you can chime in on the chat on this, that when you look at your tattoos now that you got later in life, they meant more to you or something to you then than they do now. And typically people go, oh, I regret doing that. See, because you got it because of an identity issue then. Okay, not judging you because I do it differently. I just didn't do it the tattoo route. All right. The point is, is that we do, we're, we're different people today as we were then, right? And it's mostly because of identity. Okay, let me start there. As

Dyslexia, Shame, And A Superpower

Dr Pompa 4:00

kids growing up, we're all looking for a group. We're all looking for our own identity, especially teenage uh teenagers, and I have five kids. You can tell when teenagers, they're the hardest to raise because that's when they're really searching for identity. Here's the problem. Before teenagers, we have all have been given false identities from people we love, our parents. Uh, we've given uh false identities from teachers, coaches, sisters, brothers, friends that say things to us. Now, I did an episode on this podcast. If you want the whole podcast about identity, please go there, look for it. Um, because basically, we get these false identities and we anchor into them. In this podcast, I use mine as an example. Mine was I'm dumb. Why? Because I have dyslex, I have dyslexia. You don't not have it. I still have dyslexia. But when you don't can't spell or can't read as a kid, and here I am in sixth grade, faking it, you know, trying to fake it out because I was very embarrassed. Okay, I didn't need anybody to call me dumb to have a false identity. See, I told myself I had a false identity. So even we can put false identities on ourselves. And mine was I'm stupid, I'm dumb. I lived most of my life that way, under that false identity. Oh, and I created a lot of bad behaviors. I always say that every bad behavior as an adult, that I probably still have some of them, um, came out of that insecurity, of that false identity that unfortunately I labeled even myself. Okay, what I didn't, and I talk more about in that podcast, um, is what I didn't say is that my superpower, that I've been able to help so many people and impact so many people uh with their health, trained doctors for 20 years. I'm able to basically recall things that I've read many, many years ago. I have literally file boxes in my head of categories, topics, and I can put new old ideas with new ideas and create new things. That gift is the superpower of my dyslexia. Here's the problem, parents, is we and our kids, so you might want to share this with your kids, is we think that everybody can do that. I thought everybody could do that. I didn't know until I was much later as an adult that I had a unique ability, a superpower. So the problem is that my false identity of being stupid was actually not stupid at all. It was the way my brain worked, and it actually was a superpower, many dyslexics. And by the way, back then they weren't saying, oh, you have dyslexia. And so did, you know, Elon Musk, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, in a long list. Oh no, they didn't give me that. I that, you know, they just I just rode the short bus and you know basically went down to the special room and you know, they were forcing my eyes to go a certain way, all these uh tricks that didn't work. But needless to say, we didn't know what

Walking Toward God Given Identity

Dr Pompa 7:10

it was. But look, the bottom line is that as we walk in life, if we're intentional about figuring out who God created us to be, that's our true identity. We will figure this out. The goal is to walk closer to the true identity, meaning who God created us to be, and the closer we get to that person. And again, I'm still getting there, and I think we will always get there. You know, we're always evolving into the that person that God created us to be. The closer we get to that, the happier we are, the more successful we are, and basically the more content and the more authentic we are as humans. We are all in this evolution of finding that true identity, seeking it out. And again, one thing coaching doctors beyond doctors, coaching many people over the years, I can say that happiness, success, authenticity do in fact run absolutely parallel to how close somebody is walking in their true identity. Meaning, if you run into an adult that has a lot of adult issues, a lot of issues, period, a lot of insecurities, a lot of addiction, I can go down a long list in depression, et cetera, et cetera. And I'm not trying to pinpoint everything on this. I'm not. But my point is that when that is the case and we see those behaviors, oftentimes these people are still living from false identities that most likely were given to them as children. And that's the sad part. It's not too late. We absolutely can seek out and further basically walk into that true identity. The book that really changed me and uh really gave me an understanding with this is it was the book and David perceived he was king. The book takes it from a biblical perspective. But David, if you know about David in the Bible, um he was raised as the he was a bastard child, born out of wedlock, and his brothers basically treated him as such. He had a lot of false identities because of it. He was living out that life that was given to him. And um so many places in the Bible you see that. Matter of fact, I have a direct line in my Bible when David perceived he was king, when he realized who God created him to really be. And I believe you see this evolution. But David really struggled. He didn't just mess up his own life, and if you know the story of David, you realize that, but he also messed up the whole uh culture of Israel at that time, right? He messed up the country of Israel. And um, when David perceived he was king, David's life changed, but so did Israel's life. Uh, the the whole country changed because of that identity shift that he made. Now, again, it wasn't like David all of a sudden walked into his perfect identity. He was still evolving. I believe as David on his deathbed, he even evolved into further understanding of who God created him to be. Literally, um, with the the prophetic words of, you know, the Messiah himself would be born from his lineage, you know, and come out of his lineage. And I believe David on his deathbed really understood that further in identity. So the point is that where are you on that course of identity? And we all want to be seeking uh to be closer to that identity.

Two Timelines To Find Clues

Dr Pompa 10:50

Here's the two exercises that I typically tell people to do uh, and when I would coach people to this is I would have them timeline out basically all of the hardest things that happen in your life on a timeline, as far back as you could remember, maybe age five, maybe you know, 10 or 15, uh who knows where it is. But think back to the hardest things that you went through. Maybe they were tragedies, maybe they were horrible things, um, being molested. I mean, you can we all have different stories, but you timeline them out and you go all the way through present time. Now you do something else. You also go through your whole life and you see the victory God's given you, right? What are the breakthroughs? What are the awards that you won? What are the most important moments of your life that impacted you the most? The things that make you the most happy, the things that um people said about you. It could be small, it could be big, it could be um, you know, things that you've won, anything that you would call a victory, you know, that you felt you know God gave you, mark that down on a timeline. The reason we do this, and then you pray over it and you say, God, reveal my true identity in these things. And the reason you look at the negatives, if you will, pain to purpose, God absolutely shows us who we are oftentimes in the struggles. There's a saying that, and my wife always says it, that in any hard thing in your life, you can choose to become bitter or you can choose to become better. And oftentimes in the hard things in our life, it's a reflection of who God really created us to be. So look back on that. And likewise, the opposite. In those times and the victories God gave us, we also see our true identity. So if you think about David's life, you know, it's like if you look at the stuff, the hard things that he went through. And I think in in David Perceived He was King, the book really did a good job of showing his, you know, really his reflection of who he really was. As he ran from Saul, running from really his own identity. You know, there are some major things that happened in that time that led David to an understanding of really who he was. And then look at the victories he had. He slayed the lion and the bear. And as he stepped up to deal with Goliath, when everybody else was afraid, you know, he stepped up in a boldness of really understanding of who God created him to be. And he stepped up with the, you know, basically not the fear in a human sense, but in the boldness of who God made him to be. So, you know, the victories, and he got that out of the ability he anchored back into a victory God gave him of the lion and the bear. And didn't he say those exact words? You know, I slayed a lion and a bear. Who is this uncircumcised Philistine that criticizes the one and true living God? It's like, no way, you see. So when we look at the hard things in our life and the victories in our life, I believe, and then we pray over them. I believe that that's when we really can start to see who God created us to be. And I have one more little tip there is that involve somebody that knows you well, right? It could be a brother, it could be a sister or a close friend, maybe if um you're close with your mother or father, but because they have a different perspective on you than you do. And share the timeline with them to what you want to share, and you know, ask them for their input. Because oftentimes, and sometimes people have told me, you know, I've got three people in my life that I shared this with, and I wrote down what they think of me. And that's the question is what do you think of me? How do you see me? You know, what how do you think God sees me? And ask them that question and then write that down and see what comes out of it. I believe that you'll be stunned at the answer. And it's oftentimes exactly the way God wants who He made you to be and how He sees you. So, anyways, those are the tips. But look, identity, tattoos, cars, shoes, whatever it is, okay, many of these things are just part of us finding our true identity. So, not a negative, it's a search for who God created us to be. I answered the question, walk into your true identity.

Be Strong And Courageous

Dr Pompa 15:18

And by the way, let me end with this. There's a this happens in the Bible. It's rock kazakamats. Those are three Hebrew words. In the English, it translates into be strong and courageous. And that's how you find it in your Bible. There's several of these, but every time someone was about to step into a promise God had for them, I believe that's where identity starts, walking into a promise, because that is his promise, right? Of who he created us to be. God, we see all we see is fear. We want to back up, right? And so here, Israel is one example, crossing the Jordan, 40 years of waiting for this promise. And all they saw was the 31 armies. All they saw was the fear. They compared this, they said, we're grasshoppers compared to these giants. Let's back up. And then God spoke through Joshua, Rakhazakamatz, Israel. Be strong, courageous. Yeah, that's the English uh translation. But the Hebrew is no, no, God goes before you. It's Him, His strength, not your strength. Meaning, that's where we get our confidence. When David walked up to Goliath, it was Rok Kazakhamatz. You know, it's a spiritual boldness, and that's what a matz means, the last word, rock kazakomatz, a spiritual boldness that we walk into. So that's what I say to you Rak Kazakhamatz, walk into it, but walk into it with the boldness that God has already dealt with everything you fear. And that's how you'll find your true identity. See you on the next Dr. Pompa podcast for another amazing topic that you need to share. People need to hear these topics.