Who Do You Think You Are?

I think it's safe to say we encounter a good number of defining moments in our lives.  Moments that challenge us, break us, grow us, and ultimately shape us for better or for worse.  It is in these moments that we are forced to take a real look at who we are and whether we admit it or not, we come to terms with either our satisfaction or disappointment in ourselves in comparison to who we thought we were or aspire to be.  In a healthy lifestyle one experiences a fair number of both feelings of contentment and frustration with self- awareness.  If we are honest with ourselves we would admit the necessity of our failures and shortcomings to make way for our success. If I were to settle for every mediocre habit I exhibit I would never grow and I doubt I would be very happy with a life of challenges I have avoided instead of conquered.  There is something truly life-bringing and and refreshing about change; it is a really good thing whether the change be positive or negative.  I believe as long as we have breath in our bodies we should keep moving, seeking, aspiring and should never be okay with just being.  With all the negativities in life there is still much good to be experienced in comparison.  I think it's a shame when we don't go after the things we aspire in life no matter how small it may seem.  The world is a different place now than it has ever been and that is due in part to all the ones who set out to make things happen.  Who would have imagined 100 years ago that we would have telephones you could take with you, and that with the same phone you would be able to take pictures and video and have access to something called the internet which has to be one of the most innovative creations there is, giving birth to a world more of things. It only takes one person to dare to think that in their imagination lies something more powerful; possibility.  As a creation we are limitless to the number of things we can experience in comparison to any other creature on earth.  We are constantly evolving and changing whether we realize it or not.  We have thoughts and feelings about the world around us.  Some people want to explore it, seeing all they can see not being limited by the boundaries of the state they were born in.  Some want to explore it, learning all there is to know about the different kinds of people, cultures, histories.  Some want to express it.  We have artists, writers, painters, and musicians.  Or preserve it, like environmentalists and those who work for animal sanctuaries and humane societies.  There are those who wish to heal it such as doctors, nurses, and therapists.  Others seek to protect it- policemen, firemen, armed servicemen.  We all have our part and the first step in doing it is discovering it. It may be none of those, or many of those and then some.  Personally I have a passion for healthcare.  I ask God how I can make a difference in the lives of those I encounter beyond just performing the task and as I get older I see more areas where I wish to be useful.  I don't want to be limited to just one language.  I hope one day to learn sign language and to use that and my knowledge of spanish to help communicate with other who don't speak the way I do; to give them a voice.  I hope to learn to play piano and other instruments to and increase my love of music.  I love to learn and I love to do crafts and I want to make time to be more creative, in writing and in craft. You were created for a purpose so unique, and it may be cliché, but you truly are the only you.  You ever stop to think how we all learn the same alphabet, the same sentence sequencing, grammar techniques, and vocabulary but no two people share the same handwriting.  We all interpret and convey the world differently.  We can see the same things but we perceive it differently.  We can hear the same things yet we interpret it differently.  A lot of relationships would be saved if that weren't true!  If only both people heard the same way and experienced things in the same manner.  But we don't, which is why it is such a crucial habit in a relationship to learn one another as individuals and create a collective harmony made up of both characteristics.  It is for the same reason that it is harder for those outside of the relationship to understand and empathize.  Development is not limited to a certain time in our lives; the beginning where we have to chose who to be and then live it out for the rest of our time.  Or near the end where we scramble to do what we always dreamed of after living un-fulfilled.  As long as we are living there lies opportunity.  Follow one, conquer it and explore the next.  Time is not promised.  All we have is now.  Ask yourself who you think you are, and then challenge yourself to be that much greater.