Definitions: What would you say?

I wrote this more than a year ago. I wanted to post it here:
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I was getting ready for work this morning, and just happened to have "Good Morning America" on, sipping my "battery acid with a lump of sugar" (aka Mountain Dew), and saw this young fellow who had been lost in an avalance in a snowboarding escapade. Due to some extreme frost bite, he lost both feet, and is now on the mend, thanks to God's grace and medical technology.

One of the remarks that stood out to me was when his physician said, "Eric is so defined by his athletic/physical prowess, this has to be tough.."

So what else defines Eric? How does Eric define himself? While he had "athletic prowess" he was defined by the way he "walked." Now that he has to use artificial feet, how will he be defined?

All of a sudden it just "hit me" like a ton of bricks. What defines me? Who defines me?

I was talking with a Christian friend not long ago, and that person focused on their emotional struggles, and for them, their sole definition was their struggle. The most and only important thing in their life....their struggle. And sadly enough, their relationship to God, to other believers, to family members, and to society at large was defined by....you got it, their emotional battles.

So, now that the "Mountain Dew" has had it's desired effect (mental stimulation), I must get real and see what honestly "defines me." Is it my life struggles? Is it the blessing of friendships of all kinds in so many places? Is the primary definition gained from the grace and love of the crucified, risen, ascended Christ who has transfered me from the "kingdom of darkness" into the "kingdom of light"?

What really defines me? So many, myself included, want to blame everything and everyone for all the human maladies we experience. Growing up as pretty much an orphan, I have my own extensive list of "whodunits" that could be rightfully accused. But that's not the way God wants me to live.

That's not the way God defines me. And I can't let my own sense of "victimhood" define me that way either.As a Christian, I continue to grow in the knowledge that this life isn't all there is to living. This life is only a "dress rehearsal" for eternity.

So, I hurt for this person, because of the "definition" that he has accepted. How can I help him see that the "real defining moments" are what God, in His Son, Jesus Christ has said, accomplished, and promised? Unlike our friend on Good Morning America I don't want to be defined by my athletic/physical prowess (not that I would EVER have any worry of someone making that mistake...LOL), but rather by how I most reflect this living, vibrant relationship to Christ and other citizens of that city "whose Builder and Maker is God.

"What defines you?

Why?