Who Am I?

When I ask myself, "Who am I?", my answer is pain and strength. I have always lived in an extreme amount of physical pain, and I have experienced excruciating emotional and intellectual pain, and I have observed pain over and over and over again in other people and in the creatures of this Earth. And yet who I am is at the hot core a resolute, creative, often cheerful life strength around which all of my other attributes, like appearance, feelings, and skills hang like shiny ornaments on a tree. I cherish my strength and my attributes, their glimmer distracts me from my pain. I use my strength and my attributes to advance my life's contribution,

A meld of pain and strength is who I am in this life.

Who Am I? Pain and Strength.

by Annmarie Throckmorton 2021