Wednesday, September 5, 2012

Embracing My Identity


A recent podcast I listened to talked about deciding what your identity will be, and then embracing it, and living that out. As an example, the speaker said that he was an athlete, and when he declared himself so, he then changed some lifestyle patterns based on that new identity.

I have been thinking about that, and have decided to intentionally embrace four core identities, which will hopefully shape me more and more. Also, as a result, I am thinking about ramifications. That is, how I will live in light of these identities. Here is my preliminary thinking on them:

Identity #1: I am a son of God. Therefore, I will spend time cultivating that relationship, being intentional in my prayer and devotional life.

Identity #2: I am a husband and father. Therefore, I will make time for quality time for family. I will not parent lazily. I will carefully curate the culture of our family, and take responsibility for it.

Identity #3: I am an artist. Therefore, I will make time for my creative pursuits, particularly, songwriting. I will invest time in developing my artistic horizons by exposing myself to books, music, film, and artwork that inspires me to respond creatively. I will spend time alone reflecting and observing. I will embrace my uniqueness.

Identity #4: I am a professional. Therefore, I will not accept amateurish behavior from myself. I will show up and work, whether I feel like it or not. I will grind. I will take, at all times, a professional approach to my work.

How about you? Any identities you need to embrace?

3 comments:

Aidan Rogers said...

Must be that kind of week. I made a similar manifesto/identity statement/commitment yesterday morning. Grab hold of who you are...and then hold on because once you're in, He's gonna take you for the wildest ride. He promised. Good words, good thoughts, brother.

Melissa Perry said...

Terry, this is totally awesome.

Terry said...

Thanks for your encouragement, ladies. I think embracing our identity is a bit of a lifelong struggle, you know? Like it's not something we'll ever master. Had some good chats with Mr. Perry about this last night.