Who Am I?

I'm am....

a mother
a wife
a daughter
a sister
a friend
a diabetic
a sufferer of chronic kidney disease
an individual with a mental illness
a book lover

all these are labels i stamp onto myself. what i want to know is who i am, stripped down to the core. why is that so hard? have these labels really obscured my view of myself?  lately i've been discovering things about myself i didn't know because all these labels got in the way.

i always thought i was a shy, introverted person, and i think i can be. but you know when i'm happiest? when i'm around people, and reaching out to people i don't know and creating lasting friendships.

i think this quote really applies to my life right now:

"Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate.  Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure.  It is our light, not our darkness that frightens us.  We ask ouselves, who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented and fabulous?  Actually, who are you not to be?  You are a child of God.  Your playing small doesn't serve the world.  There's nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you.  We were born to manifest the glory of God within us.  It's not just in some of us; it's in everyone.  And as we let our own light shine, we uncounsciously give other people permission to do the same.  As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others."

Nelson Mandela 

i think i might be afraid of who i am. my mind can't accept that i am brilliant, gorgeous, and fabulous. you know what's interesting, when i was at philhaven and had group therapy with some pretty awesome people. we ALL held each other in the highest regard, we could easily pinpoint amazing qualities in other people, but none of us saw them in ourselves.