Fondue. Gold. Beach. Pineapple. The Olympics. Peppermint. Cats.
Name 3 things you like (to yourself, unless you are alone. We don't want people to think you talk to yourself, unless of course that is something you like. Different strokes and all that).
Name 1 thing you love (if your initial response is that you don't know what "love" really means, stop reading this right now and call Vicky the therapist, I won't be addressing that issue here).
Name something you know how to do better than your brother/sister/parents/boss (if you just reread the words above thinking that those words were my answers to these questions, you should rest assured that I don't do "The Olympics" better than anyone, though I *do* love pineapple).
"I need to find out who I am", "I don't know what it means to be me", "I'm trying to find myself". I don't want to hear these phrases from a grown adult, unless it is from an adult who recently suffered a major head injury. While you may not know what you want your life to be, you should know who you are at the most basic level. There seems to be some confusion when it comes to the question of "Who Are You?".
Not knowing what you want to do for a living, but knowing it isn't what you are doing- this isn't YOU.
Knowing that you enjoy the city, but not knowing if you want to live in the city- this isn't YOU.
Dating someone who you think is great, but not knowing if you want to move in with him/her- this isn't YOU.
Your essential "YOUness" is composed of what you love, like and believe, completely absent of anyone else. Your "YOUness" travels with you, works with you, dates with you, and dies with you. My "YOUness" is made up of a fondness for peppermint ice cream, a love of travel, a dislike of cream soda and spiders, the need for sun and surf and to never have to work in Excel or Access again. In my opinion, your "YOUness" is who you are at your most basic- the simple parts.
Because I think that "YOUness" is so simple, I find myself concerned by those adults who say that they don't know who they are, that they need to find out- find out who they would be without this job/partner/responsibility, without this "life". I would argue that without my current job, I would still like peppermint ice cream. Regardless of who I am dating, I still don't like cream soda. If I didn't have bills to pay, I would still choose the beach over the snow- I would just choose it more often. I may not have a 5 year plan, but I know that it won't involve spider-wrangling. Whether I am in Denver, Denmark, or Down Under, I know that when push comes to shove- I'm more interested in breaking up the fight than jumping into it.
So here it is, the 6 word challenge. In 6 words, write who you are, define your "YOUness". Own It.
Globetrotting Arachnophobic Activist Cheesehead Encouraging Tomfoolery
