People usually look at a person, acknowledges that they are there, judges them on something, and then walks away. Many things make up a human being. We are all individuals, and I believe no one is the same. If you are Hinduism then your essential self is transpersonal, it is the same within all individuals. But I never see two people who are exactly the same. I also believe that our personal identity is constructed over our lifetime. The definition of personal identity is the unique identity of a person through time. It questions if the individual is at one time the same individual at another time.
Some people believe we are born with personality, and god makes us how he wants us to be before we are born. However, I don’t think so. It takes certain things in our life to make us the way we are. For example we grow stronger, when bad things happen to us; like when we go to a funeral, or have a long lasting relationship break up. A funeral changes us by when we look at our loved ones now we appreciate them more. Personally I have lost a lot of friends this year, seven to be exact, and they are all my age or a year older. One died in April, and all the others were August and back, all of different causes. I know I am not the same person that I use to be. I wake up every morning thankful that I am alive. I honestly now think everyday that this could be my last, and I treat everyone the best I could, tell my parents I love them as much as I can, and live my life to the fullest. The littlest things now have the biggest impact on me. Not only me but my parents also, they have become more protective. They make me text them every time I arrive somewhere, and I cannot drive or get in my car alone past eleven. Your personal identity will change; it is not going to be the same as it was before something tragic happened to you.
Or say you just got a promotion and a raise at your job. You then change as a person too. You are now proud of your position in work. It makes you tell people more what you do for a living. You have the feeling that people are proud of you as well. It makes you more confident in what you do. It also makes you a happy person, and you have more initiative in your job. You will walk and talk like a different person, because you now feel as they say “bigger and badder.” It changes you to be a hard worker. You now like the position you are in, and you want to be the best at it. Or since you realize you got this promotion you work hard to get the next one, and you could get a raise in the position you are in depending on your work ethic. That changes you as a person and how people look at you.
A final big change why I believe personal identity is discovered over time is becoming a mother or father. When you become a mother or father, it changes your personal identity completely. You can no longer be wild and crazy No longer can you be the partying type, and be know for going out every night. You have to mature, and put your child first; change your whole lifestyle for the one life you are bringing into this world. It could bring out a lot of stress in one person, or a lot of happiness. It brings out the reasonability in a person, and a whole lot of feelings. People always say you can never love someone as much as you love your child, and after you have a child you will know if this is true or not.
People change every year. They change by the month, day, hour, even minute. I know personally I change daily. I’m growing and trying to change into the person I am maturing to be. Although certain things I have gone through in my life have changed me, they make me who I am today. I try to be the best person I can be, and I don’t blame anything or anyone but myself for what I become. Personal identity is something that is discovered, and I hope every person is happy with that person that they are.