Word Count: 545
Duration 140wpm: 3:54
Today, our topic is your self-identity, and what I mean by that is knowing who you are, valuing yourself, and knowing what you want out of life. We’ll start off with Mr. Turner who loved to see people smile. It was the top of his day to do what made others feel great. He was so busy making others feel good, that he didn’t have the courage to fight for what he wanted. Instead, he did what others expected, what his family said was right, and what his culture said is the dream for everyone.
It all started when Mr. Turner, who was from the United States, was in his late twenties. He was becoming a man, and everyone he trusted followed the same life path: get educated, get a job, get married, get a house, and have a family. That’s what he did; he wondered why he should question it. If it worked for everyone and they all seemed happy, why wouldn’t it work for him? It wasn’t until after he got the job, after he got the wife, and after he got the house that he realized it wouldn’t work for him after all.
He consulted his family, and they said to stick with it. Everyone goes through this kind of thing, and it’s only a temporary feeling. Mr. Turner knew differently. There was something that said it wouldn’t go away, and he felt his life was a lie. By that time, he had already been married for five years. His wife was ready for kids. Everything was closing in so fast.
Mr. Turner didn’t eat, didn’t sleep, he felt detached from people and responsibilities: he became a living zombie. Everyone saw what was happening to him, but no one knew the reasons, and Mr. Turner wouldn’t say. It was clear that he was depressed, and he understood that it was because he didn’t value himself. Every chance he could, he would try to escape life through reading, tinkering with stuff, or building things. Even that seemed pointless, eventually.
It took him a while, and even though it seemed like the dumbest thing to do, he listened to what his body and mind already told him. He quit his job, divorced his wife, sold his house, and decided to value himself from then on. People were hurt, lives were affected, and relationships were ruined, but Mr. Turner felt better. He wasn’t better because was being selfish but because he wasn’t depressed anymore. He enjoyed living again, but this time, on his own terms.
Mr. Turner was stumbled through life without knowing who he was. He followed the life that people said was the way. He never thought to question them because he trusted the system. Mr. Turner’s self-identity spoke up. He denied his self-identity’s call to action because it was too painful to face, and it nearly ruined him. The moment he accepted his identity and value is the same moment things turned around, but a lot of damage had already been done.
The moral of Mr. Turner’s story is that you can’t live comfortably while you deny yourself and what you truly want. It’s wiser to learn who you are, what you want, and have the confidence to choose yourself over others.