Who Do I Want to Be?

I just watched a Cinema Therapy video about The Lion King, which naturally included the scene where Mufasa tells Simba to "Remember who you are." Jonathan Decker, the therapist of Cinema Therapy, said that when people tell him they don't know who they are, he asks them who they want to be. 

"Identity is everything," according to Decker. Some see their identity as the spark of the divine within them, and some people see their identity as the core of their being, sometime one can find by stripping away the excess, and Decker seemed to consider these valid analogies, but he also said that identity is something you create. We can manifest our identities through our desires.

In another recent video, Stoic philosopher Ryan Holiday said, "We assemble our life step by step," likely paraphrasing another Stoic philosopher who apparently said, "You have to assemble your life yourself - action by action."

I'd like to do that. Or rather, I would like to do that, if I knew what kind of life I want to assemble. I have a life, a few hobbies, a handful of passions, and very few practical, useful ideas. What I don't have is any clue how to turn that into a life I can live long-term. I can look for opportunities, but I'm not sure what kinds of opportunities to look for, how to recognize them, whether I'll get any opportunities of that kind, or whether I'd recognize such opportunities if I got them. I'm not sure how to build the kind of life I want because I don't know what of life I'd want to, or even could, build.

That said, I know some basic ideas for the life I'd like to have. I know some traits of mine that I'd like to develop, like generosity, kindness, helpfulness, and strength, and I know a few traits of mine that I'd like to diminish, including temper and self-doubt. That's not a clear, idealizable role-model, but it's a start. And maybe that start is enough for now. It's not a clear idea of who I want to be, but it's a fair description of who I want to be, and it's certainly a step in the right direction.

I will gradually become a stronger, wiser, better person, not just because that's who I am, but also because that's how I choose to be.