Identity

  Who we are. I admit to that being something I haven't given a great deal of thought to personally. I am what I am, and I expect that is all I'm ever going to be. The only thing that may change is the way others see me. I've heard that money can change a person, I wouldn't know anything about that as I don't have that amount of money, not that "life-changing" money that is the hope when buying a lottery ticket. I don't think it would change who I am though, just increase the options available to me. A part of me says that's probably a good thing, the lack of viable options I mean, as given the opportunity my choices may not be the wisest. Then I tell myself I am older, more mature, and certainly capable of handling that. But that is all speculation. 

  In recent years it appears that many people are claiming a heritage and defining themselves in that way. I have ancestors that were Germans, Swedes and British. I'm none of those, I'm an American. I'm a product of my environment. Where I was born and raised made me who I am. That provided the building blocks, the foundation of my faith, my beliefs, my attitude and my outlook. Everything is measured against that standard. That is true for me. Perhaps that is true because I was raised by a village. That village contained my grandparents, parents, siblings, aunts and uncles, my classmates, my church, and friends of friends. Occasionally total strangers affected my world and made a contribution to who I would become. After all of that was distilled, I was the result, for good or bad. I'm just Ben. 

  Self-identity and identity are different things altogether. I don't get to choose my identity. That is, and always will be the prevue of others. I can certainly feel differently about your opinion, your assessment, but it won't change that. For that reason, I use the quote from Popeye, "I yam what I yam." That's what I think Popeye was saying, it doesn't matter what you think about me I am what I am and proud of it. Pride, to me, is simply acceptance. It's a belief, a conviction. I don't know who I am, but I know that I am. That's good enough for me. Hopefully that's good enough for you too. 

 I have no desire to change anything about myself, I'm just fine the way I am. I call that attitude self-empowerment! You hear a lot about empowerment these days. It has become almost an expectation. I need to be empowered. Empowered means to give someone the authority to do something. Thing is a lot of folks are getting confused about that, thinking that authority has to come from someone else. It doesn't. That thinking does nothing but foster dependency. If you're waiting for others to empower you, you are dependent. It's not that difficult to understand. 

 Who we are. I may not know who I am, but that doesn't stop me from being me. I don't need your permission, your authority for that. It appears that more people are concerned about where I'm going than what I'm doing. I'm told where to go quite frequently. I don't feel empowered to do so, however.