Regardless of how we were raised, who our parents were, what partners we chose, what drugs we took, or what career paths we followed, none of it matters in the here and now. You can be whomever and whatever you choose. When I was progressing through years of cognitive therapy to unpeel the multi-layered onion that made up my past, my therapist commented that she was just a little amazed that I had ended up on permanent disability given what I had lived through. I suppose I’m just more than a little proud to have received this recognition. As a young teenage man living in a run-down, decrepit shack just 35 years ago, I could never have imagined the career success I know today.
Like anything in life there was no straight line from there to here. There was hard work, REALLY hard work. I moved myself, at my own cost, from community college, to state college, then to private college, finally achieving my MBA at the age of 40. I struggled through two failed marriages until I realized happiness with a partner cannot come through sacrificing who I am. After attempts to find my spirituality as one of Jehovah’s Witnesses I learned that spirituality is found within, in my connection to the universe and the energy contained in it.
I know who I am today. Sometimes things are extremely difficult, but I am equipped to face adversity. I know who I am and will not let anyone cause me to doubt myself. I am not part of the herd. I am my own unique personality, one which no pen can hold. No matter how I got to where I am right now, my history does not define who I am. Instead of being a victim of my past I have achieved victory over it. Do not let your own story define who you are. Make a conscious decisions to be the person you want to be, the person you were meant to be. Your future self will thank you!
