Defining a New Me

"Life isn't about finding yourself, its about creating yourself."

A common phrase that we hear as an answer to a question about one's life is that they are trying to "find" themselves and who they are. I never quite understood this answer, because I grew up knowing who I was and where I came from, but nonetheless, it has provoked a lot of thought over the years. Questions always came to mind like "How do you "find" yourself?" "Where would you look?" and "How will you know when you have found yourself?" Then, I found the quote that i shared above, and it summed up how I felt perfectly. All the time and energy people spend trying to find themselves, they could be using to create themselves. Instead of trying to search for something we are not sure of, why not create something we are. We are all given different hardships and trials that we have to face, but that is not what defines us. It is how we react in the situations which we are placed that does. And each and every reaction, for the good or the bad, defines who we are. Through the way we react we create a definition for ourselves. If we are faced with extreme difficulty and walk away because we think it is too tough, we are defined as weak. If we stand and endure everything that comes our way, we are defined as strong. Who we hang out with defines our "popularity", what we wear defines our fashion. And although these definitions most often come from other people, we are the ones who create the basis of the definition. Everyday, we label things. We are human it is what we do. BUT, just because others are the ones placing the labels, doesn't mean that we can't be the ones to write them. We are in control of the way we handle the situations that we face, we are the ones who choose what we wear and who we hang out with, and whether we like to admit it or not, ultimately we are the ones who define the labels we are given. If you are given the label of stupid, are you going to go along with it, or are you going to prove them wrong? No matter what the label, whether positive or negative, we define who we are by the way we act.

So, in my efforts of bettering myself, I have decided that I will I will define who I am in a new way. I will live up to the positive labels that I have been given, and disprove the negative ones as well. And in the end, people will still think what they want, but I know that I will have defined myself in the best way possible. I will not let labels restrict and prohibit me from achieving my dreams and my goals, and I won't let them intimidate me either. Because in the end I define who I am. I am the one who will decide how I will handle a situation, or portray a desired image. I decide who I am, and because I do, no one else can.