Definition

It's not uncommon to hear people say they won't let X, Y, or Z define them.  Normally, they're referring to tragedies or other maladies generally out of their own control.  

I won't let being a victim define me.

I won't let cancer define me.

Yet we let other things we don't choose define us.  Our race, our gender, our sexual preference (while I believe some people do choose their sexual preference, I believe enough people don't to make it a blanket statement).

I, for one, am not afraid to allow any traumatic experiences from my past or a chronic illness to be included in the definition of who I am.  I must allow things outside of myself to define me, or else I would be nothing.  For, as the saying goes, nothing comes from nothing.  And I refuse to be nothing.

So, then, who am I?

I am a daughter of our Heavenly Father.  I love Him, and I know He loves me as much as He does you. I have allowed that love to provide me with courage, compassion, and conviction.  I am a world of contradictions: laid back and passionate, sweet and sarcastic, vacant and involved, open and reserved.  I am not just one of a kind; I am one of a million kinds.  As with music, so with life experiences: it is highly unlikely I will find someone who has all in common, but I can almost guarantee there is something common to be found between me and anyone.

This is why I allow my past experiences to be included in the definition of who I am.  So that I can stand on that common ground with someone who has just set foot on it, or who has been wandering it alone for years.