“Defining Yourself”

I recently read something written by Goldie Hawn that inspired this week’s post: “I define myself by my ability to give. I define myself by my ability to understand. I define myself by my ethics and by my truth. These are the things that inform who I am, other than exterior moments (like awards or accomplishments) that ebb and flow.”

This made me reflect on how I define myself. Like many, I defined myself by my work, my profession, or my [social] roles, and to some extent I still do. As my birthday approaches, I have been reflecting on the person I was 10, 20, and even 30 years ago. If I were to go on a first date with these previous selves, what would my answers be to those getting-to-know-you questions we typically ask when on dates. I experienced a first date recently and as I was thinking about what I wanted to know about this person beyond those general questions, I thought of the things that I thought were important and would provide a little insight into the kind of person he is.

I asked myself these questions, used this time to reflect on what are those things that have informed me of who I was and am today? And more importantly, who is the person I want to become?

Try this exercise this week: Prepare to take yourself out for a “first date”. Ask yourself how you define yourself, what has informed who you are – both in the past and in the present – and, who is the person you want to become?