The Way I Am

I have often heard, and even said, "it's the way I am." To some degree that is true. We each have our own ways of being that have grown out of our genetics, upbringing, lifestyle, etc. The difference between that and what I am addressing is one of will or choice. While it is questionable that I can change my genetics (give it 50 years and that may be possible), I can change how I express who I am in the world.

All of your life experiences have culminated in the person you see in the mirror. However, we have the option each day to reinvent ourselves. Through further experiences we learn to appear differently and even to change in fundamental ways. The words, "It's the way I am" are really a way of saying that I do not choose to be any other way than I am now.

I know very clearly that change is difficult, not only on the individual but also on the people who make up their close family and associates. And, of course, change can be for the better or the worse. Those words are usually spoken with regard to some trait that is seen in a negative light. It's not one hears them about a positive attribute.

So, the question is one of the choices we as individual human beings with free will make. It is easy to continue in patterns we have built over the years. And there are new horizons to be explored if we are willing to let go of the stubborn clinging to past ways of being and acting and move forward.