What Defines You?

What defines you?

Not your life - you.

I’m not sure there is one answer to this question introduced so clearly by Lizzie Velasquez,

a 25 year old young woman with an obvious health condition.  A victim of bullying and to some, an object,not a person, of fear as a child. She took these difficulties and in her words, created ‘a ladder’ on which to climb.

Definition suggests shape. We are all born open to the world that, fortunately for most, is not a hostile world. Unfortunately for too many, the world is a very hostile place. That opening time begins our shaping ~ learning what value we hold to the rest of the world. Then come influences of family, community, education, and employment. Achievements and losses, joys and sadnesses continue to shape us as we grow through life. More shaping is done when employment is ended, whether due to age or other circumstance. Awareness of ourselves and our world can provide us openings not dependent on a grade, or a job, or our life's emotional content.

So, as Lizzie Velasquez asked in her TED talk - What defines you?

“There’s no one defining moment that kills you or makes you.”

~ Sinbad (David Adkins, comedian)