article by: Aadira S. Purushothaman

Everytime someone asks this question, I go blank and then I ask myself who am I?

Who am I?

Sometimes even I don’t know. Looking back into my life, very little has turned out the way I had planned. Back then, I made a list of all the things I wanted when I grow up, all the qualities I wanted in an eternal companion— the most important goal in my life. There are not enough eye rolls in the world to share how I feel about that list now. Especially when eternity isn’t somethig I can even grasp anymore. Because eternity is right now— in this very moment. It is in a child’s laugh, a touch of hand, my feet caressed by waves as I plunge into the ocean and staring into the eyes of someone I love without speaking. This is why I write. This is why I am sharing myself now.

This is I am.. This is how I love.. This is how I live.

I used to live for tomorrow—for that eternity—hoping I was good enough, doing enough, trying hard enough. And I was missing all of the right nows.

I’ve recently discovered that as human beings, the labels and words we use to explain who we are don’t always match up with what we do. And it is when our actions align with what we say that we are truly being who we are. But this is scary, because sometimes our image of ourselves is not accurate.

I have believed myself to be an open, honest person—desiring authenticity from those I love while sometimes holding back when the same has been asked of me. This is one of my deepest regrets. Vulnerability is frightening; there is so much to risk and lose. We can be rejected for all that we are by those we hold dear. And in my becoming, in my sharing of who I am, I have lost so much.

Fear tells me to run the f*ck away, usually. And I am good at running away. My heart tells me to lean in and be open and honest—to be who I say that I am.

For we all desire to love and be loved—to matter. And to have the freedom to love and be loved as we truly are. Maybe in sharing who we are, we will become the manuals we so desperately needed when we were younger. We will be able to match what we say with what we do.

It’s surreal how someone we love can be here one minute and gone the next; it changes our existence, forever. And it is for this reason, and because we don’t know what comes after this life, that we only have this one moment—this right now.

So we should lean in more to that heart-thundering fear and desire to be vulnerable so we eventually grow into who we say we are.

Do not fear.

Do not hold back.

Tell who you are and what you feel about yourself.

For me, this is what comes to my mind when I am asked to answer this question.

I hope I expressed here about myself.

But still.. Who am I?

https://www.quora.com/How-does-a-person-answer-the-question-Tell-me-something-about-yourself-in-a-social-situation-not-in-a-formal-setting-like-a-job-interview