Defining our lives

What defines you? What qualities, actions, or beliefs, define the person that you are or hope to be? These questions were given to me by one of my mentors. When she first posed them I assumed I had the answers? I was in my mid-thirties and felt certain that I knew exactly who I was. But as I sat down to write out my answers I quickly realized the deeper complexities of the question; No person is easily defined. And as a survivor of abuse the quandary becomes even more complicated. Am I defined by my courage? Am I defined by my fear? Is it my willingness to grow beyond the labels of my experience that defines me or my ability to embrace those labels and bring new meaning to them, that best demonstrates the women that I am...

The list can go on forever. Today, I find that what defines me most is my ability to redefine myself, my decision not to be defined by my abuse, or the journey it has brought into my life. Today I am defined by my decision to give voice to my truth, my needs, and my hopes for the future. Today I find strength and focus in my willingness to use my voice in spite of my fear and my childhood mandates to be silent.

So, What defines you? What defines the person you are or hope to be? What qualities bring strength and focus to your life? Find some time this week to sit with these questions and see what comes up. Be wiling to follow them wherever they led you.