Identity

Who am I?

Growing older means a lot of changes. Some important changes take place which you might not be aware of. We do not consciously take notice of these changes but they happen.

Take for instance the ability to grow independent and getting to know who we really are as people. We do not wake up one morning and suddenly we have gone from being totally reliant on our parents to being super independent and doing every little thing for ourselves. This takes place over many years and with much experimentation such as pushing the boundaries that our parents set. How many times have you come in from a night out at 10:30 instead of 10.00 like your parents asked?

Although extremely worrying for your parents this is one way of experimenting with independence. You may find that you want to spend more and more time with your friends and less time with your parents. You might find that you have a lot of decisions to make about all kinds of stuff…some good…some bad. The choices you make will determine what kind of person you eventually become.

You will probably make a lot of mistakes on your journey to independence; you might find yourself involved in lots of arguments and disagreements. This, although not always good will help you to discover who you are and what you believe.

Developing an identity can be tough. Deciding what you like and dislike can be challenging. Trying to fit in with the crowd at school whilst wanting to dress and act in your own way can be hard... but expressing ourselves through our hair, clothes, makeup, music, interests etc. is really important to help us understand who we are. Our identity is made up from many different parts of ourselves. It ranges from our taste in music to our gender, cultural and sexual identity. We develop from being like everyone else to becoming different.

Of course in today’s world we have two identities, one in the real world and one in the virtual world. These two can be very different from one another. In the virtual world you may be tempted to SHARE EVERY LITTLE FACT about yourself in order to receive attention, recognition and be liked. Just know sometimes this can have terrible consequences. Forming a HEALTHY identity either on or off line involves keeping parts of ourselves PRIVATE. Privacy keeps us safe from judgements, and gives us control over our lives, health and wellbeing.

Who you are will develop over time and hopefully one day you will be comfortable with yourself and the choices you make. Just know, for now, there is perhaps still a long way to go before you truly achieve independence and a sense of self. Have fun, stay safe and be confident.