Authenticate

'Please enter your UserName and Password' is a familiar request these days and one that causes many people a good deal of consternation.  From an identity verification and authentication perspective the issue is not that we do now know Who We Are (UserName) or Something We Know (Password), but that most of us now have MANY of these identifiers and they keep on changing.   Remembering and keeping track of them all can be quite a challenge in the Information Age that we live in, but perhaps this is just the current 'price' of living on the leading edge of creation.  (For those interested in a good username/password storage application, I recommend www.roboform.com).  But I digress... :)

When you think about it, this is just an electronic version of the age old question - "So, Who are You truly anyway?"  Or more specifically, how do I authenticate you?  From Wikipedia: ""Authentication (from Greek: αυθεντικός ; real or genuine, from authentes; author) is the act of establishing or confirming something (or someone) as authentic, that is, that claims made by or about the subject are true."  We are being asked this question from those providers (i.e. banks, social media sites, on-line retailers, etc.) that we have chosen to engage with in the 'virtual' world vs. in the 'physical' world, so this additional step is necessary to authenticate who we say we are - otherwise someone could be impersonating us.  Unfortunately, this does not necessarily mean that in the 'physical' world that we are 'Who We Claim To Be' either, now does it?  In fact, many people walk around impersonating themselves every day - either not knowing who they are and/or claiming to be something that they are not.  'Invalid UserName and Password' is the norm rather than the exception.

When I go to preschool to pick up my son at the end of the day I will often engage with children that I have not met before and I like to ask them "Who are you!?!"  The answer is almost always clear and simple - 'I am Isaac!', 'I am Natalie!' or 'I am Mason!', etc.  Remember when you were that sure about who you were?!  Of course, much has happened in our lives since then and we have all played many roles, been through many life phases and been many different people just in this single lifetime.  Each time it was a different 'UserName and Password', no wonder we can't keep track of all of them.  And there is no easy little application to manage them for us and lots of new groups of people, organizations and providers that will want us to authenticate with them in the future.

My suggestion is to take it one 'role' at a time.  Pick one for today and truly own it, with the understanding that each day is a new day and tomorrow you are free to choose a new one.  Look at yourself in 'the mirror', chose 'Who You Are' and allow the world around you to authenticate and validate you all day long.  You can choose ANY 'Who You Are', in ANY format and in ANY area of your life, but try one on for today and live it FULLY.  Examples could be:

I am... 'a father.'
I am... 'passionate about health and well being.'
I am... 'a corporate account executive in the high tech industry.'
I am... 'LOVE.'
I am... 'a photographer.'
I am... 'teaching others about Universal Truths.'

Look then for people to ask you for your 'UserName and Password' all day long and give it to them!  You are likely to find that people and organizations that you have chosen to engage with will do so where you are today - just for today, give them full permission to do so.  Open up to 'Who You Are' and just Be.  

By the way, for Today, I am... 'sharing.'

All the Best,
Whitney
© 2010 All rights reserved, Whitney Merrill