I hazily remember my first experience of having full control over a physical entity. I recall it as one of the most pleasant initial experiences of my life. It was fascinating for me to discover that I had the ability to boss around my legs, to bend them at my will or to grab them with my hands.

For a long time, I have been doubting my recollections and thinking that maybe I have been imagining those instances. My doubts were all put to rest when I met my oldest living uncle after a very long time. In a humorous  manner he told me that as an infant I had the unusual acrobatic habit of bringing my big toes into my month and suckling on them.

The impulse of maximizing our possession of physical entities is a primal instinct that is shared among all humans. The lifelong quest to improve our stance in the world stems from the primal desire of maximizing our possessive abilities. Our educations, our jobs, our love affairs and so on, are all aimed at one ultimate goal; to expand our control over a wider domain of physical entities. This primal desire has even shaped our language, and in turn, has subliminally affected our worldly outlooks. We are wired to add the possessive words of “my or mine” to as many entities as we can. For me it all began with controlling my legs. It soon extended to an endless list of entities that were all preceded by the word “my”. To name a few; my breakfast, my parents, my friends, my house, my car, my school, my diplomas, my wife, my children, my cat, my dog, my intellectual properties, my country, my world, and so on.

Before the discovery of my leg, it was only me and I could not remember of anything else besides me. When it comes the time that I must let go of everything, will it be only “me” again? I can easily conceive of letting go of all that I have labeled as mine throughout my life, including my legs. But am I going to be able to let go of myself?