You are what you have been becoming. Lanson Ross
Choice. You can choose to become whoever you want to be.
You Can Be Anything You Want To Be
My adopted mother ceaselessly affirmed me with the words, “You can be anything you want to be.” Now, considering that I spent my first seven years in a hellishly dysfunctional and discouraging environment, these were much needed words. Nevertheless, I raised my son with the very same ideology. “Work hard son and you can accomplish your dreams.”
At 10 years old Austin declared that he would become a professional baseball player when he grew up. Instead of deflating his dreams with the truth that his goal was pretty much unachievable, Pam and I encouraged him to work harder than anyone else, and who knows what future he might experience.
He has that very same attitude today at 28 years old and he has a brilliant reputation for his hard work. It pays off.
“Who” You Want to Be
Even though Austin did make his dream come true, my message today is much less about what you become as it is about who you become. You will have limits on what you become. For instance, I could never have become a professional baseball player. I simply do no possess the talent. End of story.
But I do have total control over who I become. Yes, I am talking about virtues and character. I am talking about being the kind of person that adds value to other people and to society; the kind of person others look forward to being around because you make people feel good about themselves; you contribute to the value of your job or mission or cause; quite simply: you are nice and you serve.
Choice with Effort
I believe in choice. No matter my talents I can always choose be a good person. However, even that takes a lot of hard work. It requires effort and often sacrifice. Many times I must sacrifice my needs for the good of the whole or even the good of another person. Sacrifice is rarely a preferred option. I guess that is why it is called “sacrifice.”
“Becoming” is such a beautiful notion. You are always in a process of “becoming who you will be next.” You are evolving, not so much by natural selection but by personal selection. You get to select the kind of person you want to be. And then you get to work hard at becoming that person, because as Lanson Ross reminded me, “You are what you have been becoming.”
Choose
Who You Want to Be
Photo courtesy of Povozniuk at istockphoto
