Who am I?

I remember being about twelve, and feeling really confused about who I was. I felt like I needed to know at that exact moment, the kind of person I wanted to be. I didn't realize then that becoming who you're "going to be" is a continuous process. It's not like all of a sudden you hit a point and you've become a certain person and then you will be that person for the rest of your life. Basically, what I wanted to happen was absolutely impossible. At the time, however, it caused me immense amounts of stress.
I still catch myself from time to time waiting for some sort of moment to occur, some feeling of reaching a finally destination, at which I am totally and completely content with who I am. But eventually, reason wins out, and I realize that isn't going to happen. Ever. As humans, we are constantly changing. We are constantly getting older, learning new things, meeting new people, and all of these things affect how we react to the world around us, how we think about things, how we interact with other people. Even if we locked ourselves away from any contact with the outside world, our minds would still be working, pondering over new ideas, thinking about new things. And we would still change.
The fact that we are constantly changing still causes me stress from time to time (though not in the same way it did when I was in those vulnerable "tween" years). The thing that I don't like is the thought of not having a destination. One certainly could go through life being pushed and pulled and manipulated by the world around them, without any final goal. Since we are always changing and reacting to our environment, it would be easy to go with the flow and say "whatever happens, happens." As someone who has a lot of dreams and goals, that just doesn't cut it for me. Furthermore, as a Christian, this life philosophy shouldn't cut it for me. If you read the Bible, it is pretty clear that we aren't supposed to live passive lives. Ephesians 5:17 says "Don't act thoughtlessly, but try to understand what the Lord wants you to do." This is the direction I have been trying to take my life in, but, as I'm sure you can guess, it's not something that can be done over night. But it is something that I want to strive for.
In Philippians 3:12, Paul writes: "But I keep working toward that day when I will finally be all that Christ Jesus saved me for and wants me to be." I have adopted this verse as a theme for my life. I think the important word in this verse is the word "work." It is proving once again that we can't just sit there and wait for a transformation.
I guess the point of this long-winded post is that we are always changing, and it is up to us whether we let the world change us, or we take charge and become the people we want to be. And even more importantly, the people God wants us to be.
So there's a question and a challenge for you ("you" being my imaginary readers): In what ways are you letting the world change you? In what ways are you working to change yourself?
I certainly have a lot of things I need to work on in my life, and in my life so far the world has definitely had a pretty strong grasp on me. But I am working every day, little by little to change this. I encourage you (my imaginary readers) to really be honest with yourself and look at what you need to change. And then, change it!
Life's too short to let the world control us.