by Ian Campbell

Created on: June 02, 2008

How do you define yourself? Are you the clothes you wear or the car you drive? Is your worth measured in action or inaction? The harsh reality is that we are no more the clothes we wear than they are us. We all arrive screaming from a womb. As time passes and new blue jeans become old blue jeans, our personality shapes who we are.

The D.N.A (Deoxyribonucleic acid) that makes up the smorgasbord of relatives past, present, and someday future is only a part of whom we are. If our personalities were just the product of our D.N.A coding, it would be simple. We could blame all of our problems on our parents, and live a fault-free-life. What a world it would be if we coasted from one experience to the next, taking zero responsibility for our actions.

The unfortunate truth is that is not the case. Our identity is only shaped by a part of our genetic makeup. The larger part is a result of our surroundings and experiences. The bully that gave us the hard time in third grade taught us what it was like to be picked on. His punishing actions gave us a taste of humility, but he is not totally to blame. Beauty magazines paint a world where people strive to be the ideal image. One that is perfect in shape, size, and scent. This leveled the playing field for the majority of the population-teaching those not fitting into the mold to have a low self worth, but they too are not solely to blame. The failed relationships in our life preached an underlying sense of rejection with each bitter blow until we became the person we are today.

Who is that? You ask. Is it a person who trusts no one? Is it a person who is afraid to go out-for fear of the unknown-someone angry at the world? It could be but probably not. Although we have lived the life, it does not mean we have to be the statistic. We are all free to do what we will. We can choose to stay or run away. All that has happened is in the past. Reliving the past does not change it; it only tortures us in the present.

Too many people blame their shortcomings on someone else. It is much easier to give up on life than accept responsibility for the way it turned out. Saying you are not responsible for your life is like admitting you cannot choose right from wrong. It is the theory that we were all preprogrammed from birth. If that were the case, everyone who picked up a beauty magazine would believe its endorsements. They would also believe that any bad thing that has ever happened is a result of destiny. If that is the life you have chosen, then that is the life, you have chosen. The ultimate choice is always yours. Your identity is what you want it to be: are you a wolf in sheep's clothing?

Howling at the moon until next time..

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