"We will fight or we will fall, till the angels save us all..."

Did you find it easier or harder to fight to be yourself when you were younger? Do you think life was easier because of less responsibility, or less concern? Did you become who you are because of who you were...or in spite of who you were?

These are great questions!
Harder!
Much easier! Best time was when every thing I owned fit in my car.
Both!

Hi Duanne (hope i spelled that right) interesting question..I think, that it is a little tougher on young folks. Really though, i think the peer pressure plays a part...but i think the majority of the pressure is what we place upon ourselves. I think the drive is there, more at a younger age, and this is what forms an outline of who we become, but that outline is ever changing as long as we are open to change. It's when we close the door to knowledge, and no longer accept new ideas or the honing of principles, that we become stagnant, or as the term goes "set in our ways" For me, i'm a dinosaur, i have old fashioned values and i try to live up to the expectations, but i never rule out new ideas. The term "can't teach an old dog new tricks" only applies to the old dogs who no longer strive to learn.

I like that answer Mark. Oh and it is Duane.

I think we actually fight harder when we are younger, due to your the new kid on the block and must establish your spot within life. Therefore at times you must prove yourself to those you are actually competing with until they realize your serious with what it is you stand for.

As we get older we are not only get set in our ways but those around us know how we are and what we believe in therefore we are not the new kid on the block any longer and we seem to relax with whom we are and actually we come to a point we no longer care or feel the need to prove who we are anymore.

Within time we have established within ourselves of whom we are and no longer feel that need to prove who we are. But we tend to still prove what we believe in as far as where we want to be and what we can do through out our whole lifetime. Regardless in life we must still grow and learn all the new things around us just that once you get older one is more confident in what they do and how they do it.

And whether anyone wants to admit it or not, people are still judged on their experiences within life and how long they have been actually been doing it. Therefore, when someone young tries the same things they are looked at as if they are blowing smoke up in the air and they have no idea what they are actually talking about. At times within certain situations due to some think that those that have actually been doing it for years knows much more and the younger ones in fact do not have anything they could put forth that would be better then the ones that have been doing it for years.

Is this true at times but never always for at times it is the fresh idea that actually works better than the same thing that had worked in the past. It all comes down to how the younger one presents themselves in order for the others to soak their idea in and to see if they actually merit trying things a different way.

It took me awhile to really define myself in terms of "I want to be...." instead of "I DON'T want to be...." (such as my father, etc.).

I always knew who I DIDN'T want to be -- I had some glimmerings of that as far back as 5 or 6. But I spent years being the opposite of somebody else, which is NOT the same as being yourself.

It's an ongoing process. Ten years ago, I didn't have a realistic view of my own strengths and weaknesses. Now, I think I do. But there's always room for more self-knowledge.

This is a great topic to ponder.
When I was younger I worried too much about pleasing others; was I good daughter, a good wife, a good mother, and good employee. My concept of self was from someone's perspective. As I have grown, especially through many events in my life, not limited to my divorce, I fight harder today to stay focus on who I am from my own perspective. If I am going to be good at anything or for anyone, I need to be okay with who I am at present. I know this will change because all life's events constantly make an impact on me to some degree or another. Who I am today will be different from a year from now and that's okay as long as I am defining the outcome. I am no longer concerned about pleasing everyone, not possible. It has nothing to do about not caring for others. There is a difference and I understand it better now. I still struggle at it.

not old enought to know..

for me personally, I struggled to be different. If everyone went one way I went the other...In fact something that makes me laugh now is that I use to cut the brand names off my jeans claiming not to be a "walking billboard" lol. But when I was 16/17 i had to grow up fast, I had a baby and she passed away. When that happend I had two choices...to either continue to be a selfish, immature 16/17 yr old or to grow up and learn how to live life productivly. So I guess I think we become who we are because and in spite. Its how we choose to learn or not to learn from the events in our lives....does that make sense?? lol

Me~ I had it made when I was younger, I had so many cousins around I was the 'cool lil' cousin" and the few good friends I had were a blast!
Yes life was easier for me even though I took on a lot of responsibilty~ I was raised in single mom household and I always helped out.
Seems that I have fallen into the same as my mom ,being a single parent rasing kids except my life is a lot easier then hers was.

I fought harder in my youth, mainly due to "friends" my mum brought around (I don't blame her, she was in the wrong spot in life). Not necessarily harder to fight to be myself, I had the added "luxory" of not having a childhood I could remember so I was able to build myself from the ground up at 14. Life was harder unfortunately, see above. I became who I was in spite of what I could have been, all choices and don't get me wrong I don't regret it...but I am who I am in spite of my creators.

Experience taught me to stop fighting & just BE.
Took a good counselor's help also.