Who are you?

Caterpillar: Who are you?

Alice: I—I hardly know, Sir, just at present—at least I know who I was when I got up this morning, but I think I must have changed several times since then.

A few weeks ago I was sitting in a meeting at the Pineville Youth Council. A motivational speaker was telling us all about how important it is that we work in unity and that we need goals and aspirations. Afterward, the chief-in charge, Michelle Hunter, asked us to each write down who we are, and who we'd like to be. Boy, was I shocked to learn how hard it was to answer these two simple questions!

At first glance, it might not look like a hard question to answer. Who am I? Well, I'm exactly 1,71m high, I weigh 67kg, I have dark brown hair and green eyes. I have big feet and hands and  four tiny spots on my leg that can form a rectangle or diamond when they are linked, depending on how I bend my leg. This is me.

Mmmm... This might be summary of what I am, but it still won't tell you who I am. So let's dive a bit deeper. I prefer green above red. I like the sound of rain on a tin-roof and the smell of rain-soaked ground. If I were to have a superpower it would be telekinesis. I have more girl-friends than guy-friends and would rather watch a movie at home than at the cinema. I love reading and find fantasy novels irresistible. I usually don't eat a lot, but when I'm really hungry I could force down an elephant. First-person-shooter-games make me nauseous and (for the life of me) I can't get the hang of car-games! I love the winter and prefer cloudy days above sunny ones. This is me.

We may well be getting close to the answer to this mind boggling question, but for some reason it still won't fit. The question begs for a sense of pride in it's answer. It asks for statements and for questions. It longs for justice. It pleads for more than just preferences. This question can't be answered in just words alone, it is answered in our everyday lives; by what we think and what we do; by the way we handle situations and the way we react to circumstance; by the way we treat our equals and our superiors; by the way we live.

When I finally jotted a few words on my paper, i realized that what I wrote was only the tip of the iceberg of who I really was. When asking someone who they are, you are actually asking if you could spend the rest of your life in that person's company. I have known my best friend for 8 years (which is a lot if you take I'm only 16), and still I learn new things about him when we hang out. People change and get new opinions. Even though they are influenced by others, a piece of their old self remains, to create a whole new trait. We are like diamonds, grinding and shaping each other as we go along to eventually leave a uniquely shaped gem of great value. Life is a journey in we must strive to learn to know ourselves, and to use that knowledge when facing difficulties.

The answer to the question "Who are you?" is not a single sentence, but a masterpiece...