Who Are You?

          "Today you are You, that is truer than true. There is no one alive who is Youer than You."

          - Dr. Seuss, Happy Birthday To You!

          When I was little, my mom used to have this joke going where she would say to me, "If I am me, and you are you, who are you?" and of course I would answer, "Me!" for which she would reply, "No, I am me, and you are you, so who are you?" and then I would say, "You!" and she would repeat the last phrase over again. It was a cute little joke I'm sure she picked up from somewhere and I would laugh afterwards and go and share it with someone else. The memory brings a warm little smile to my face thinking about simpler times when it didn't matter that I didn't know exactly who I was. Now, many years later, I'm still not really sure and I find that it's becoming an issue. 

          "Who are you?" I whisper to myself as I look despairingly into the mirror. Sure, there are plenty of labels that I could associate with myself, probably even a few rather unkind ones. But are those labels the sum of who I am? If so, I might be in trouble. "Who are you?" Regardless of what answer I could sum up for myself, the truth of it is I am not who I want to be.

          I've been doing some soul searching and thinking about what kind of fingerprint that I want to leave on this world after I'm gone and I am going to strive to become the person that leaves such a print. The problem is that I've spent twenty plus years becoming the person that I am today and so it is probably going to take a bit of time to become the more mature, more understanding, and more affectionate person that I want to be. And I hope that the past of who I have been will not constrain me from reaching the brighter, more beautiful future that I now seek. I'm quick to forgive, but I am not always quick to be forgiven. May those who know me for who I was not let the sum of my past mistakes keep them from seeing who I am and who I am yet capable of becoming. As I like to say, there is beauty in even the most unlikely of things when you look deep enough.

          "Who am I?" I am a work in progress, full of great potential wanting to burst free. I am someone with a mind capable of acheiving great knowledge, a heart capable of feeling great love, a mouth capable of bringing forth powerful words, and two hands capable of helping myself and others equally. With my ears I will listen, with my eyes I will see, and with my soul I will come to great understanding. You see, I am someone who wants to leave a positive impression everywhere I go and on everyone I meet; someone who is finding their voice and taking all of the small steps that make the biggest of differences in the most hopeless of places. And now that I have found out who I am, I wish to ask you one thing - "If I am me, and you are you, who are you?"