What Defines You

The younger we are - all the way into elementary school - it seems the greater impact things have in a shorter period of time.  And many of these ideas and reactions seem to haunt us for the rest of our lives.  An acting teacher once told me "You don't forgive people for them, you forgive them for youself.  You forgive them so that you can let it go."

Who is allowed to define us?  Our parents?  The bully in school?  Our friends?  Are we defining ourselves by reacting or by making our own choices?

Something I've thought about before is "cops" and "criminals."  They are both defined by crime as they both work in that industry.  They have different jobs, but it's the same industry and they chose it.

Now, if someone steals from you, you're a part of that industry too - but you might not want to be a part of that industry.  So - what do you do?  For how long do you remain a part of this industry which you didn't choose to be a part of.

How often does this happen to us in our lives in every aspect?  Things happen beyond our control which put us into an industry we don't want to be a part of.  There are so many industries, we can't be a part of all of them.   In fact, we can only be a part of a few - they take too much life energy.  So - we must choose our industries wisely.  How about letting go of the ones we don't want to be defined by to make room for the ones we do.

What "industries" are present in your life which define you while in reality - you don't want to be a part of that industry at all?