How do you define yourself?

[pooh]

How do you define yourself?

Lovely article about this...

http://ezinearticles.com/?How-Do-You-Define-Yourself?&id=917489

nice quote at the bottom of it too.......

"Up to a point, a man's life is shaped by his environment, heredity, and movements and changes in the world about him; then there comes a time when it lies within his grasp to shape the clay of his life into the sort of thing he wishes to be . . . everyone has it within his power to say, this I am today - that I shall be tomorrow."

~~Louis L'Amour

Pooh :D

[NotResponding]

I dont know. I change with different people do things by their watch.
.
Nobody knows my true personality, but it's more friendly and laid back than they think.
I like that quote its hopefull.

[gary_2.0]

I've no doubt, even in my care-free days, and for as long as I can remember, I've always been an outsider. More so now, mainstream culture/society has little to interest or stimulate me. But that's ok. Because I'm aware of this fact, I'm fine with it. Most of the time.

Culture is far richer on the 'outside' once one moves further away from the centre anyway. Before it's been filtered to comply with mass appeal. So despite feeling marginalised, the creative and intellectual rewards are infinitely better.

OK, that may not answer the question in quite the proposed manner, but I thought it worth mentioning none the less. I'm sure I'm not the only cultural outsider on site.

[lior]

nice article!

gary, you're certainly not! as a jazz fan people my age have no idea what i'm talking about... so i don't tend to talk about it at all. i'm an alternative 'alternative' - 'alternative' has become mainstreamed. i don't prescribe to a particular stereotype of our culture. to be a stereotype would be so easy. i just do what feels good :)

which means that i can't define myself by bouncing off a stereotype. i can call myself a 'jazz fan' but since there aren't many around, especially my age, we don't really band together to form a big part of culture or anything.

i resent being called a student. i don't want to limit myself to just being a designer or writer or singer. i don't even want to limit myself by calling myself a 'creative type' because i'm not bad at computer stuff or logic stuff either!

i was thinking about this earlier today actually - i believe that identity is the collected mass of our experiences - what's happened to us and how we responded. every experience has impacted on the path of life we've taken. we react to new experiences based on our previous ones. and our identity is what we are today, based on our past selves. we have the potential to evolve.

this idea causes me problems, because if i have a terrible day where i feel awful about not working and not being on time or being a bad friend etc, my identity of the moment is crappy for want of a better word! i can't tell myself 'you're a strong beautiful person' - i might have been that yesterday, i might be that tomorrow, but right now i am how i feel. i always am how i feel.

aye, there's the rub. intellectually i believe my identity is formed on past experiences. emotionally i can't escape from being how i feel.

one last point to mention: a big part of experiences is relationships with people, so they're a big part of your identity too. my position in the family and in friendship groups, and sometimes in work/uni, does affect my identity hugely. oh and partners too - letting someone close to you always changes you.

since we have new experiences every day, our identities are ever-evolving. i think that's an important thing to remember for anyone who's going through a tough patch. if you want to become a better you, go out there and experience the world!

[smudger]

I used to define myself by my academic and sporting achievements at school and uni. I was always a high achiever and a winner!

I used to define myself by my career as a Quantity Surveyor, my position in the workplace among my peers. The way I dressed, the responsibility I had, the car I drove, the salary I earned!

Then I spent 8 yrs trying to get pregnant. I became Mrs IVF! My worth became the sum of my abilities to reproduce!

These days I define myself by the way I look and peoples reaction to the way I look! That's why I have low self esteem! I'm working on that. It's a work in progress. I hope one day that I define who I am by the happiness I give to my family and friends around me and by being more positive about life in general. I don't think I do that at the moment. Actually I KNOW I don't!

[eeyorelover]

Interesting article.
I'm not sure I agree with it but it is interesting.
When I first read your question my first response was "I'm a Mom".
That isn't soley who I am but the experience as a whole has defined a lot of my character, as has being a wife, a college student, a sister, a daughter. All the experiences from these different roles in my life have created a lot of my personality and character traits that I have.
I do believe these define us as individuals. Patience for example. I was never a patient young person. I wonder if any are! LOL
But becoming a Mom, I learned to be more patient. Every Mother does I think!

The article says not to let roles define you but I think that the roles we play in life do teach us lessons that define our character.