People call us all kinds of names.Father, Mother, Son, Daughter, Boss, Employee, Friend, etc.We are always labeled by those around us.Yet who we are has nothing to do with the label.Labels are useful and they help us identify things quickly.When we place too much importance on labels they can mislead us.We easily forget that a label is not reality.It is a shortcut.It does not capture the essence of anything.Especially people.Society labels us by all kinds of categories.White, Black, Asian, Muslim, Doctor, Lawyer, President...Yet those labels are not who we are.The are often no even accurate.For we are so much more.Often, we are a mix of many labels.So things get complicated.The most important label is not what anyone else calls us.The most important label is what we call ourselves.And we may decide to change our label at any time.Perhaps in the past we were a Manager.Now we are an Entrepreneur.Or a Stay-at-Home Dad.Or a Volunteer.Or a Mentor.It is not really important what other people call us.It is the identity we take on.It is the label we choose for ourselves that sticks.The beautiful thing is that we can change it whenever we want.It is up to us.It's our label.Our identity.Our choice.

~ Sam Liebowitz, The Conscious Consultant