Refusing to let an identity mask run my life

If growing up means accepting a certain identity mask, as in choosing a single self-image, deliberatly or by course of action, and sticking to it for good, I really don't want to grow up. People who've been wearing the same mask for a long time tend to be unable to imagine it being another color or size, which makes it very hard to accept any kind of change in character or display any inconsistency in the choices they make.

Once you stop accepting identity changes your ability to remain open-minded and learn new things is on the fast track to exstinction. Take a look at your parents. When was the last time they ever truely tried something new, changed the way they live or demonstrated any signs of new insight? I certainly have a hard time remembering any such episode, and I doubt that my parents are particularly exceptional in this case.

While thinking about this I did a freightening discovery: I don't even have to look as far as to my parents to see the negative effects of living life according to an unwielding mask. It's visible all around me in friends and co-workers who're unable to learn or show weakness out of fear of the disobeying the mask.

Out of all the people I know, the most interesting and inspiring are without a doubt those most willing accept change and unafraid of letting their identity evolve, regardless of whether it exposes their weaknesses or not.

I aspire to live like that; To let my personality keep changing and never becoming a slave of the identity mask.