everyday
we seem to be confronted by people
who are trying to define us

they will explicitly
lay some kind of judgment on us
telling us that we are
this
or that

at home, it might be
a father, mother, husband
wife, son or daughter

at work, it might be
a co-worker or boss

at school
a teacher or fellow student

on the tv, it might be
a republican, democrat, or
militant Islamic extremist
who is telling us that we are
x, y, or z.

what can we do about it?

we can reject
these descriptions, accusations
or defintions

we can buy into them
and come to believe
what others tell us about ourselves

we can simply ignore the whole issue
and just keep on
doing and being
what we
do and are

or we can ponder,
neither believing
nor rejecting
what others tell us
about ourselves

this pondering involves:
considering what we think, feel, want and do
and, as objectively as possible
factoring in what the others say about us

how are you defined???