As we go through the various stages of life, we tend to get labelled...Could it be that, very often, we label ourselves too, for reasons of emotional security, or the need for identification with someone, or an organization, or our profession.....or a hundred other reasons that the monkey mind springs on us? (that is why Buddhists believe that one should never take seriously all that the mind throws up....)
The thing is that these labels in their own way, while providing us with identities, become our limitations....we get comfortable in them, and are afraid to go out into situations that will challenge them. Simply put, we give only a teeny-weeny bit of weightage to our own real identity...only thing is that that teeny-weeny weightage, in fact, is limitless....but we've busily erected walls all around,effectively limiting ourselves and our growth. Worse, when someone or something breaches the wall, we feel lost and confused....Once again, we don't have to feel this way, because we are all blessed with deep, deep inner resources...........but we do, rather, we allow ourselves to...
Our various identities are merely the various roles we play - in a drama we don different clothes with different make-up for different roles, remaining our own limited selves....actors in a play. What happens in real life is that we make-up our souls and heads too to fit the part, confirming and reaffirming our limited selves.
The thing is......Of course we need to appreciate the different roles we play - mother, father, daughter, son, employee, boss, sister, brother, friend, lover, husband, wife.....whatever...but we must never let our real persons get hidden or limited. This is the only way we can get through the many travails of life, and the many stages we pass through...