I ______ therefore I am.  Fill in the blank.  I can't.  The blank is far too small.  Even 50 spaces on the line would not be sufficient.  I could take the easy way out and say, like Descartes, that I think, therefore I am.  My mind functions and because of that I can know that I exist.  But, I do more than just exist.

            I participate therefore I am.  My days are filled with activities which identify me as part of a social group.  I contribute to their wholeness as they do to mine.  We communicate.  We feel that together we have a mission and a goal.  We are friends and colleagues who have known each other through good times and bad.  We rely on each other and stimulate each other to be the best we can be.

            I feel emotions therefore I am.  I love and I am loved.  I feel emotions so strong that I am left speechless at times.  The day of the collapse of the World Trade Towers the depth of pain I felt was beyond words.  When my son, who had been plagued by mishaps in his adolescence, graduated from college and went on to graduate school my pride and jubilation made me feel alive.

             In my quest to become a scholar, I think and therefore I am.   I think and make connections with what I learn to build a knowledge base.    I strive to comprehend ideas which I know will cost me hours of pondering.  In the end, as I  experience a mental ‘ah ha’, my mind will grow, embrace the new concepts, and prepare to grapple and grasp again.

             I procreated and therefore watch my life pass on through my children and know that I will exist through them.  My daughter the debater, the singer,  the save the world advocate,  and my son the athlete and  the  professor are part of me and my legacy to the world.  I am and will be.

            I pray and therefore feel a oneness with a world that is so much more than I am.  I share  in an experience which goes beyond words as I meditate and feel a sense of peace and relaxation.  I am included in a sense of oneness with nature and all that is good.

            I perform physically and therefore I am.  My body goes through workouts designed to  make the muscles stretch and grow to keep strong and flexible.  As they recuperate after a run or a weightlifting routine their gentle soreness and tingle reminds me that I am.  I feel empowered to live a physical life and to challenge myself  even though my body is aging.

           When any of these integral aspects of my life disappear I will continue to exist but not as a complete being.  My mental, physical, emotional, spiritual, familial, intellectual lives create a unique being.  All those aspects blend into one to make me who I am . 

             I ______therefore I am? Could you make the blank longer next time?

           I like your approach; it avoids what I call just-a-phrenia-- the search to be one thing instead of many things.