Who Am I?

I am a son, I am a father, I am a partner, I am a friend, I am a man, and I am an individual. There are many labels that are too numerous to list. I have had successes and failures in all of these labels. Some labels do not exist anymore. I was a student, I was a husband, I was a manager, and I was a laborer. Again, there are more of these labels than I can list or remember. Some labels are earned, some are given to you.

Being a man and a son were the easiest to be. Obviously, I didn't have a choice with those two. How successful I was with the ones I earned are yet to be seen. I am still growing and improving on some of them. However, I realize many factors come into play to make us who we are and who we are going to be. Who we associate with, the economic times we are in, and any other outside sources can influence us as individuals.

In the past year or so, I have had time to evaluate myself. I find that I have trouble moving past failures in my life. I keep going over and over them trying to let them go. I keep asking myself, who am I? I really believe I will never be able to fully answer that question. There have been moments in my life that have been totally out of my control. I have to learn from those moments and move on. I have to learn to forgive myself and embrace my life fully. I have to keep on growing and learning about myself. To me self reflection is very difficult. It is easier to reflect on someone else's life than my own.

In closing, I need to focus on the positive part of my life. I need to comfort myself when needed. I need to love myself more. I need to be who I want to be not what others expect me to be. I need to keep asking, who am I?