.
- Thread starter SoapyCy
- Start date
Reading Jeff's article it dawned on me that I really don't define myself as anything definitive. I've put an emphasis on balancing what is important to me in the past year and not just focusing on one thing. It has definitely improved my life.
Right now, I'm defining myself as someone wondering where this Jeff Woody article is that everyone's talking about.
Since no one else is taking the question seriously, I will.
First, I am a family man. My boys and my wife are the most important things in my life. I honestly don't really like my job that much, so I can't define myself by it. My job is just something I do to make money and support my family. That's probably why I'm not terribly ambitious and will never make a lot of money. Oh well.
Secondly, I think I am a good guy and a good friend. I like to make other people smile so I joke around a lot. I generally do nice things for others if I can. I love my friends and love hanging out with them. I even love my internet friends and like playing games and seeing them outside of the internet if possible.
First, I am a family man. My boys and my wife are the most important things in my life. I honestly don't really like my job that much, so I can't define myself by it. My job is just something I do to make money and support my family. That's probably why I'm not terribly ambitious and will never make a lot of money. Oh well.
Secondly, I think I am a good guy and a good friend. I like to make other people smile so I joke around a lot. I generally do nice things for others if I can. I love my friends and love hanging out with them. I even love my internet friends and like playing games and seeing them outside of the internet if possible.
I am a father to my amazing boys, a husband to my beautiful wife, and a son to my parents. Those are the most important to me.
I also am a firefighter and EMT. Those don't define me but help shape my character.
I also am a firefighter and EMT. Those don't define me but help shape my character.
I think others are probably thinking pretty seriously about the topic, but not wanting to bare their soul to randos on the internet...makes you kind of vulnerable in ways that most people don't like to voluntarily put themselves in.
I have had seasons in my life where I defined myself by what I do (an engineer, etc.), I have had seasons where I defined myself by my hobbies (a hiker, a homebrewer), I had a season where I was a primarily husband (before kids). Interestingly, I never really had a season where I saw myself as primarily a college student, despite being in college longer than most. It was just something to get thru to my 'real' life. Because I have 3 and 5 YO sons, right now, I'm in a season where that demands that it be a large part of my definition, but I also understand that it's a season...as they get older, it won't define me so much, and the husband thing will come back (and as such, I'm putting intentional effort into keeping that part of me alive...the 'empty nester' divorce is a real pattern. If you're too much defined as a parent...when that goes away you can struggle).
I've had seasons where I simply didn't define myself. I had a job, hobbies, etc., but none of them defined me. In hindsight, those have been the times I've struggled. Right now, I'm working on re-defining myself first as a child of God and follower of Jesus. I've got a long way to go to making that real and lasting, but I've become convinced that any other definition first can, and likely will fail or go away.
It's a sad story, but I don't quite get the sudden need for introspection. I totally understand having some fun with this post.
Yeah, it's for this reason I find the exercise kind of silly. There are seasons that define us and beyond that doesn't every human being have a similar essence?
