The Breathing Prosperity blog

If I were to ask you what defines you, would you answer:

• You are who you think you are. Whatever concept you have of yourself is what you project into the world, and thus that is who you really are at this moment….then why do we allow others’ opinions to define us and change our actions and behaviours?
• You are your actions. Whatever intentions, dreams or regrets you may have, you are actually defined by what you DO. Thus, if you say you want to give more to charity, for example, but you actually never get around to it, you are actually someone who does not give to charity. It is what you do on a daily, hourly basis that defines you. But what about people who always define themselves by their past actions - for example staying in the hurt of a past event and defining themselves by what they have done…would we not tell them they are NOT what they have done? That they are more? They are new and fresh and forgiven and full of potential?
• You are your choices. We all go through life making choices moment by moment, and each choice defines us anew. This is the one I think is working for me best while I write this, because to me it means we are fluid, and flexible, and change-able. Each new moment allows us opportunities to do something differently, and get a new result.
• Something else? Perhaps you feel you are your surroundings - your job, your identity as a spouse or child, mother or father…what about labels like man, woman, fat, slim, pretty, shy…etc. etc.? Is it possible we have heard the labels so often, and engraved them on our own minds, to the point where we believe we ARE the labels?…

This is a question I thought I would ask today, since I am experiencing a lot of life changes and shifts as I move into some of the ‘future’ situations I put into play for myself some time ago…sometimes when things are changing we can feel as if we are not certain of our identity anymore. Instead of feeling afraid or being paralyzed by the uncertainty, I take this as an opportunity to look freshly at how I define myself, and to look at what I am unwilling to let go of.

So, I choose to define myslef by my choices. That is, I am not my actions, although they help me define what I’m about and where I want to go - they are tools, not definitions. Nothing about my past choices, my genetics or family background, my looks or my gender or culture define me, because they have nothing to do with who I am - from moment to moment - inside. If they did, I would not really have true free will, now would I?…They may have helped form my frame of reference, but they do not define me.

So…who are YOU?…

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