Just One Thing...
We like simple answers. But things aren't so simple.
I think that's a major source of frustration in the human condition. This is especially apparent when it comes to the question: "Who Am I?" We desperately want to be able to clearly define ourselves, but it's tough to sum up the answer in a tidy word or phrase.
There are millions of books and articles about how to find your one true purpose or singular passion. To be clear: This blog post is not one of those posts with instructions on how find yourself in 10 minutes or less. Fair warning... If you're currently soul-searching, it might derail your progress, so you may want to stop reading now.
It starts early. When you're a kid, the "Who Am I?" question is: What do you want to be when you grow up? And the answer is simple: A fireman! An astronaut! A mother! A doctor! It's an awful cute response, but it's not really who you are. It's just a generalized role, an idealized archetype. No one grows up to be the Webster's dictionary definition of a physician and nothing more. It's not a bad question to ask our children... We just need to stop confusing it for the answer to who we are (going to be, in this case).
Later in life, the question morphs into: What do you want to major in? or What skill do you want to learn? You pick your life-to-be like a meal on a restaurant menu, and try to feel good about who you are becoming. You work hard toward your goal. Maybe you change your mind or run into other obstacles. But, eventually you become, well... something or other.
After that, "Who Am I?" becomes What do you do? Maybe you're lucky enough to be a kid who wanted to a fireman, went to the academy, and puts our fires saving lives for a living. (Thank you for your service!) Or, maybe your path wasn't so straight. Regardless, I guarantee you're more than just what you do. You have family, friends, hobbies, vices, hopes, dream, fears… Those are a probably an even bigger part of who you are than what you do.
We're not one thing. Who we are is made up of the sum of all our experiences--good, bad and indifferent. We can't pick and choose which things have a lasting effect on us and define who we really are. We're not one thing; we're everything.
OK, I know you still want a simple answer to the question. It can be summed up in a word, but I promise it's is anything but simple:
Who am I?
I'm me.