Who am I?

Self-identification is (I'm told) the biggest struggle young adults face. We are beginning to come into our own selves. Puberty is a thing of the past. Our bodies are no longer changing as fast as they once did. And now that we are comfortable in our bodies, there is a modicum of normalcy established, we face the much more dauting task of figuring out why we are here. It's scary.


When I think about who I am, the list comes quickly and easily. I am a swimmer, I am a student, I am a scholar-athlete, I am a son, I am an older and younger brother, I am a follower of Christ, I am a liscensed driver, I am a Kentuckian...and the list could possbily continue on and on into infininty...and then beyond that. The who you are is the easiest to figure out because all you have to do is think about what you see yourself as and what other people see you as and voila...that is who you are. But how do you take who you are and apply that to the world? How do you take your being and make something useful and worthwhile out of your life? That is the self-identification that is so hard for teens to get simply because we don't know.


Throughout school we are trained and taught and told that we need to know what our CAREER is going to be...from kindergarten. We are geared to think about the future from an early age. This often leads to confusion and rash decisions on the part of the student. I mean, how can you possibly know what you want to be when you're 5 years old? Really, the thought that you could know is impossible. Now I know that teachers aren't actually expecting an actual decision on a career path in elementary school, but the thoughts are there. They get us thinking about who we are before we can know ourselves. To me it seems slightly ridiculous. Self-identification will work on its own. We all will come into who we are meant to be on our own time and in our own fashion. No one can tell you how to live your life. They will always make the decision that will help THEM the most, not YOU. Your life is your own; it has its own uniue meaning that can only be figured out by one person...you.

There is no doubt that self-identification is tough for everyone to go through. It's hard to try to figure out how to make meaning out of your life, but it helps if you're given space to figure it out on your own. Granted assistance is nice, but ultimately only YOU know what YOU like, you know who you truly are, and you will be the one who has to live with whatever you try to do and whatever you make out of your life. Self-identification is just that...yourself identifying who you are and who you will be. It is a personal journey through life; the meaning can only be determined by you...you identifying who you are. It is a unique things that we get to experience. I hope you find yourself somewhere out there.

And so we go...