Who are You?

It seems as if life is a constant struggle to find out exactly who we are. But what if... what if we already know. What if there is no ultimate conclusion, no miraculous discovery of self. What if the whole time we are searching, it is already there staring blankly back at us in the mirror everyday. I myself guilty of this soul searching, this cliche phrase, but after reading something... I can't recall what, but I think it was lyrics... about how someone needed to find themselves, that they didn't know who they were, I began to think about how silly that phrase is. I mean, really, we do know who we are. Sometimes we just hide it from ourselves, deny the horrible parts of our personalities that we don't want to accept and think that others don't see. But really look at yourself; really look at that phrase. If we had no idea who we were how could we possibly make the simplest of choices, whether that be a wardrobe choice or ordering from a menu. I know, and most of you know, that I don't like meat... therefor I am a vegetarian. I know that I don't like Abercrombie and Fitch... I know that I prefer rock music to rap, prefer thought out lyrics to ones about "bitches," I know all sorts of things about myself! So what am I searching for? Why do I continue to use the phrase, "I don't even know who I am" when really I do... Perhaps it's not the self we are searching for, the self being the parts of our personality we have yet to discover, but rather we are searching for the self we want to be. Maybe the "self" we're referring to is the person we saw ourselves being from a young age, or the person we want to live as. Maybe trying to find who we are indicates the struggle we face everyday to escape the monotony of our somewhat boring lives. Like for me, finding who I am would be finding a way of life that makes me happy everyday, finally becoming that person who I'm striving so hard to be...

But if that's not what finding yourself really means, then will someday everything become clear to me? Will I understand my purpose? What if there is none? How much time will be wasted in the hopes for some sort of self discovery when it all might be passing us by? What if this is it? This is life, this is who you are, there is no real purpose other than to live and enjoy the only shot you have at living your life. Is that such a bad thing? I don't think so. I know I've learned quite a bit about myself and others in the past 23 years. This discovery of self, this idea of finding out who you are, seems like it's just a phrase to motivate you, to maybe bring you out of your little bubble and let you really experience life for what it is. Life. Living... breathing... surviving... learning. Let's all find ourselves in hopes of living a life to the fullest extent.