By Definition…

Who are you and what do you do?

No, really… If you were asked those questions how would you answer?

Are you the person everyone else thinks you are or ought to be? Is your sense of self defined externally? Or, are you actively engaged in becoming everything you were meant to be according to your own terms: your own design?

I’ve been thinking about this a lot lately: more than I’d like to. And, while I can’t say I am consumed by questions like these, they occupy a lot more of my time than I’d like.

It isn’t something that just occurred to me either. I’ve been struggling with the question of how I am to be defined: whether by myself or by others, as long as I can remember. And, honestly, I don’t think I’m alone.

If you asked me to introduce myself, I’d more than likely begin with, “My name is Mitch Schneider and I fix cars.”

That would be more accurate than you could possibly know and more honest than you can possibly imagine. In fact, there are those who might suggest that’s everything you need to know about me. But, that’s only if you understand who I think I am or ought to be.

There is more to me than all but a few will ever know, just like there is probably a lot more to you than you are willing to share with all but a very small and select group. The fact that “My name is Mitch Schneider and I fix cars…” tells you everything you need to know about me only if you recognize that I am constantly engaged in the process of redefining who I am and have yet to become: actively involved in ensuring that who I am and who I have yet to become never remains static or becomes stagnant. If you get to know me you’ll learn that I bristle when I’m held captive by someone else’s definition of who I am or should be: especially, when I know I am the sum total of everyone I’ve met and everything I’ve read, the living embodiment of everywhere I’ve been and everything I’ve experienced and the fact this journey is not yet over.

Interestingly enough, those of you who have been reading my columns for all these years probably know more about me and know me better than most if not all of my oldest and closest friends.

“My name is Mitch Schneider and I fix cars.” But, that isn’t all I am. It isn’t everything I am. I am a husband, a father, a business owner and a writer. The writing, however, is more a function of who I am in the process of becoming than I am a function of what I’ve written. Perhaps, because the writing is a constant and compelling struggle to define who that really is, what that person does and what he’s all about.

Who are you and what do you do?

Are you doing what you love to do? Are you following your passion? Are you creating art in everything you do or have you allowed others to define you: who you are and who you have yet to become?

Life is all about perception: how you perceive yourself, as well as how you are perceived by others.

By definition, a life well lived is a life in which you are the architect, a life you have both defined and designed.