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I have been having a personal moment of truth myself. The last several weeks have been a learning experience for me. I will share some of what I have learned about this age-old question: Who am I?

Who I am is a varied and complex person. I am both shy and outgoing, educated yet sometimes ignorant. Who I am is never the exactly the same from one day to the next. Each experience in my life inexorably changes me and my perspective. Sometimes for the good but other times for the bad. This only scratches the surface. I spent a significant amount of time in my life being what and who everyone else wanted me to be. That was a huge mistake on my part. Deciding to conform my life and behavior to what was expected of me has led me down many wrong paths. As I've been able to come to terms with myself, accept and own everything about me,I've grown. The emotions that have come to light with this knowledge have been amazing.

Too often we allow ourselves to be defined by what other people think. A great number of people I know do not have a real sense of who they are in their own right. They define themselves by what others - parents, friends, family - tell them they should be. Many times we become what we think we "should" be rather than striving to find out who we really are inside. At times this may seem easier, but it is far less satisfying and way more frustrating in the long run. I allowed myself to do this for most of my life. Mostly out of the fear that people may not like the "real" me. As a consequence many of the people I have met in my lifetime don't have a clue about how I really feel about things and what motivates me. That's a shame, but I think it happens to most of us until we grow up enough to be comfortable with ourselves.

One thing my journey into self-exploration has taught me: I am an evolving creature. My nature not necessarily as predictable as many around me once thought. I can be the nicest person you have ever met but by turns I can be the most difficult person in the world to deal with when I am angry or upset. That's okay because through it all I am growing, learning and becoming the best person I can be. That's all that really matters.

Learn more about this author, Renee Lash.
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