Can I decide who I am?

Seems like a silly question at first, doesn´t it? After a long talk with a very good friend about life and dreams, this question creeped up on us and honestly I am not sure if I know the answer to it.

I told my friend I want to do what is right for me and what makes me happy and then we started thinking. Probably everyone wants to do what makes him or her happy, but how many people really do that? It is hard. I think in today´s world we often forget what´s the right thing to do for us rather than for someone else. People want to impress, people want to look good when everyone is watching, people are forced to live a fast-paced life… Sometimes it can feel like society wants you to be a certain type of person so you fit in the system. Other people form people and without knowing they partially decide who we are.

I am still not sure if that´s a positive or negative thing, maybe it is both. Our parents and the environment we grew up in provided us with different life expectations and life experiences. They shaped us. It is the same with our workplace, our colleagues, the city we live in. They all shape us and I think that is positive on one side because it helps us to develop. On the other side we should still be able to create and live our own dreams and passions without the fear of being judged. People who honestly don´t ever care what other people think about their behavior, their outfit or whatever it may be, impress me. They decide who they are and don´t follow any given trends.

So can I decide who I am? Yes, but it´s tough to escape the safe mainstream pathways sometimes.

What do you think?