Have you ever noticed how attached we are to our stories?  We may describe our so-called character flaws by referencing our past histories.  "I come from a broken home - my parents divorced when I was 10, so I don't know what a healthy relationship feels like."  "I am an ACA - Adult Child of an Alcoholic, therefore I have trust issues."  "My father left when my parents divorced so I have abandonment issues."  "That disease/medical condition runs in my family so it's just a matter of time before it hits me."  The stories go on and on.  From these stories, we create labels for ourselves, ranging from defining who we are to our quirky personality traits.  Some are basic and true - woman, mother, wife, daughter, sister, friend, tall, short.  Others are tied to the stories - single parent, divorcee, co-dependent, enabler.  Then there are the ones that we may use to identify what we do - accountant, sales rep, stay-at-home mom, manager, engineer, etc.  Last but not least are the ones we use to describe ourselves - fat, thin, pretty, ugly, controlling, perfectionist, athletic, lazy, smart, funny, and when we feel like beating ourselves up, stupid, unworthy, and unloveable. We accomulate labels and more labels, we tell our stories over and over again, making sure we have an identity or several identities that we can grab hold of. 

Can you feel the weight of these labels, how heavy we feel having to keep ourselves attached to so many roles?  Who would we be if not a mother, wife, perfectionist, control freak, accountant?  What freedom could we experience if we let go of the labels and the stories, if we allowed ourselves to float unattached in the quiet solitude?  Maybe we find that who we are needs no labels, who we are is nameless.

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