Who are you?

Who are you? You’re not just your name? That’s not all you are.

What about your school, your family, your footy club, your nationality, your job, your age, your hobbies?

Do you ever think what makes you, you?

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6 years ago, I had to think very hard about who I was. I had a terrible accident and when I woke up, I had forgotten. Loads of things changed that day.

The nurse who found me became a life-saver.

The helicopter crew from the RFDS proved how amazingly skilled they are.

My wife, Anita became the bravest, kindest person anyone could ever be.

I became an Intensive Care patient and someone with brain damage.

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The thing is, that being a ‘doctor’ isn’t who I am. That’s just a thing I used to do for work.

I’m not a patient anymore either, although I will always be brain damaged.

Look at those photos. I am not a navy officer, or a cowboy either ………and BTW that’s not the real Elvis.

During my recovery, I was told that I was neurodivergent.

OK, I am not arguing, but that’s not WHO I am, either.

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Bruce likes sport and hates bananas.

Bruce loves TV and hates spiders.

Bruce loves the beach and hates studying.

Bruce is hard-working and lazy.

I am all of these things.

It’s OK to be lots of different things.

That’s who I am.

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Sometimes we must be who others want us to be; a good son or a hard-working pupil.

That can be hard sometimes. I have done lots of things I love and I have done things I hated too.

That’s how I managed to become a doctor, a husband and a Dad.

The better you know who you are, the better you know when things will be easy and also when you’ll have to try hard and do things that you don’t like.

Just so long as you figure out who you are, you will succeed and be proud of yourself.

Just make sure you know who YOU are.

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So if I asked you again now, who are you? What would you say? Think about it tonite.

Maybe ask your loved ones who they are.

See what they say.

Thank you for reading this.

I am Bruce. That’s me.