Identity is seen here as developed from narratives we assimilate as script for the roles we play in real life, thus shaping our destiny - for better or worse, for good or evil. Do we choose to passively, obliviously, allow our "selves" to be formed by whatever story lines "get through" to our consciousness? Or do we take an active role in deciding which story lines influence the construction or destruction of the person we become or fail to become? Do we choose to exercise our free will to screen out narratives most likely to have a toxic, dehumanizing, disabling impact on us in favor of story lines most likely to have a creative, humanizing, strengthening impact on our ability to fulfill the best of our human potential? Which of our inner wolves shall we feed? The good, moral one who helps us become and do all the best we can be and do? Or shall we feed the evil inner wolf who not only undermines but destroys our creative potential? The waste of human potential due to playing out of toxically narratized, dehumanized roles, seems to be cumulative; once a downward spiral is initiated, it takes on the momentum of a self-perpetuating process. But once initiated, the growth and actualization of potential due to playing out a creatively inspired, humanizing self-script, also seems to be cumulative and self-perpetuating. Given the unprecedented challenges confronting humans in this 21st century, these daily messages are designed to encourage assimilation of life-oriented, creative identity-defining narrative themes as protection against death-oriented, toxic ones. Ideally, such efforts will become conjoined with an international grass roots movement to revise toxically divisive individual and group identities, by promoting a sense of humans' interconnectedness to each other as part of a Global Life System. rjp

Identities for Life and Death Forever Daily Message Calendar

Based on the book Identities for Life and Death: Can We Save Us From Our Toxically Storied Selves?By Robert J. Pellegrini

AuthorHouse

Copyright © 2011 Dr. Robert J. Pellegrini
All right reserved.
ISBN: 978-1-4520-8682-8

Chapter One

January 1

When our identity is toxically, dehumanizingly storied, we play out our roles accordingly on the stage in the theater of real life. Such conduct, driven by diabolically death-oriented energy (a) nourishes our evil inner wolf, (b) is systemically detrimental to our body, mind, heart, and soul, and (c) causes within us an inescapably sick feeling of which we may be only minimally aware - having adapted to the effects of habitual engagement in such activity.

January 2

When our identity is creatively, humanizingly storied, we play out our roles accordingly on the stage in the theater of real life. Such conduct, driven by inspired, life-oriented energy (a) nourishes our good inner wolf, (b) is systemically beneficial to our body, mind, body, heart, and (c) causes an inescapable feeling of well-being within us, of which we may be only minimally aware - having adapted to the effects of habitual engagement in such activity.

January 3

A toxically-written self-script is one storied in such a way that heartbreak causes us to become bitter and callously dismissive of others' pain and suffering. Our own grief thus becomes food for our evil inner wolf, thereby poisoning us systemically in mind, body, heart, and soul.

January 4

A creatively-written self-script is one storied so as to accommodate the inevitability of heartbreak. No life is without the sadness of personal loss. The key to managing creatively such events, is to eventually accept them as humanizing experiences that strengthen our capacity for understanding of and compassion for others during their times of pain and suffering, and our inclination to help them during those times. Our own grief thus becomes food for our good inner wolf, thereby vitalizing us systemically in mind, body, heart, and soul.

January 5

When our thinking, the way we perceive the world, our feelings, and goal-directed actions follow from a sense that we are what we own, what we look like, what we wear, the people with whom we affiliate, the motor vehicle we drive, the place where we live, what we do and how well we do it, and so on, we are living our lives by a toxically-storied self-script. This sort of ego-oriented identity-defining narrative theme feeds our evil inner wolf.

January 6

When our thinking, the way we perceive the world, our feelings, and goal-directed actions follow from a sense of connectedness to God – the Source of all creative inspiration, and a drive to actualize to the fullest our potential to become and do all the best that we can be and do as we work to make the world a better place in our own way, we are playing out the role of a creatively storied self-script. This sort of spiritually and humanistically-oriented identity-defining narrative feeds our moral inner wolf.

January 7

In this context, dehumanizing individual or group identity-defining narrative themes are referred to as "toxic" insofar as they strangle development of human potential. Such themes are characteristic of the self type referred to here as "Deathism" insofar as they are death-oriented. The goal of this project is to weaken the influence of toxic, deathist narratives on the self-scripts of individuals and groups.

January 8

In this context, humanizing individual or group identity-defining narrative themes are referred to as "creative" insofar as they facilitate actualization of the potential for human beings to become and do all the best they can be and do. Such themes are characteristic of the self type referred to here as "Lifism" insofar as they are life-oriented. The goal of this project is to strengthen the influence of creative, lifist narratives on the self-scripts of individuals and groups.

January 9

The more we live our life by playing out the role of a toxically-storied self-script, the deeper the sense of emptiness, meaninglessness, hopelessness, and perhaps even despair we tend to experience. This means our inner evil wolf is winning.

January 10

The more we live our life by playing out the role of a creatively-storied self-script, the greater the sense of personal fulfillment, meaningfulness, hopefulness, and joy we tend to experience. This means our moral inner wolf is winning.

January 11

When we perform acts of kindness, accept others as they are and focus on becoming and doing the very best we can be and do to make the world a better place in our own way, we are playing out important themes in a creative identity-defining self-script. Thus enacting our role on the stage in the theater of real life feeds our good, moral inner wolf.

January 12

When we show patience, search for the good in people, act lovingly with unselfishly compassionate understanding toward people as a matter of routine, we are playing out the role of a creatively-storied self-script as we live our lives. This feeds our good, moral inner wolf.

January 13

Who are we? We are each and without exception, an embodiment of the potential to actualize our potential to become and do the very best or very worst of what we can be and do – for good or evil, respectively. By the choices we make, we nurture the actualization of our potential to be and do good or evil, as we feed and starve our inner wolves accordingly.

January 14

Whatever power we may have to determine how much of our potential we fulfill - for better or worse, for good or evil, we exercise through the choices we make in life. And the most significant such choices we will ever make in this regard, involve the story lines we choose to assimilate as our identity-defining narratives.

January 15

Perhaps the most significant step we can take toward taking control of our lives, is to remain persistently aware of how the choices we make in life are determined by the story lines we choose to assimilate as our self-scripts for the way we play out our...