It’s complicated.  I am what I do.   I am what I accomplish.   I am what I think.   I am what I believe, although I’m not really a believer in beliefs.  Beliefs sound so permanent and unbending.  I prefer to describe them as understandings.  Those can be evaluated and tinkered with.    I am what I share, what I give.   I am how I love.  I am influenced by those with whom I share and love, and that makes changes to who I am.  What I do also makes small changes in who I am.   I am the social bonds that I have.  Social bonds are made deep and interesting by shared experiences and the working together to achieve mutual goals.  I am what I worry about.  I am my unplanned day dreamy thoughts.

How becoming disabled is impacting who I am?

Most of the parts of who I am are wonderfully the same.  Perhaps I appreciate those parts a little more than I did before.  

‘What I do’ has changed drastically, but there are other interesting things that I do, though not nearly as varied or as interesting.  ‘Interesting’, however, is a sliding scale and gets adjusted for in time.  I suppose that experience junkies build up tolerances too.  I’m just lowering my tolerance.   ‘What I accomplish’ has taken a disastrous hit.  Despite anyone’s encouragement, ‘I am what I accomplish’ requires continuous adjusting.   Social bonds have a tendency to thin a little as ‘Shared experiences and working together to achieve mutual goals’ can suffer from aging and inactivity.