As we go through life, we pick up and absorb bits of this and that. We make them pieces of ourselves and let them carry us further. However, if we’re not careful, we may end up living a life that is not quite our own.
You see, just because you were able to incorporate something into yourself it doesn’t mean that it is what suits you the most. And maybe, for a while, it got you through without issue. But ultimately, is it what will take you the furthest you can go?
We try on other people’s lifestyles. The way they move through life. Their recipes and their remedies. Their solutions along with their excuses. And they could work, but only to an extent. Eventually, you hit a cap and realize that, while this is working for you, it is not working as well as it does for somebody else. This seems to suit them perfectly, but not you. So it is time to pause and rewind. Go back to the point before you took that on.
You may have often heard the encouragement to find yourself, cheesy as it sounded, which was then replaced by an encouragement to create yourself, as though it was the more practical and productive approach - and rendered the other pointless. Yet, it isn’t pointless at all. Because where you build matters. If you are ‘creating’ yourself up on and out of something that you are not, then you’re artificially fabricating a persona rather than growing in your authenticity. And at some point, it might be so heavy and suffocating to you that you will be forced to find yourself after all, a self that would then be even more buried underneath piles and piles of quick grabs. It's that or be doomed to an existence that seems bleak and bland.
Sitting with yourself could seem like a waste, but it is essential and fundamental to manifesting what you have to offer, radiantly so. You ought to get to know yourself. What do you genuinely like and what do you genuinely dislike? And why. What energizes you and what drains you, what comes effortlessly and what is a burden, what is most endlessly fulfilling to you and what is a passing fancy? These and more questions can set you on the path of self-discovery.
That said, you still ought to figure out how much you must devote to it. Some people are more inclined to continue digging, leaving no stone unturned, and arrange their lives around that, while others don’t have to search that deep to remain real and true to themselves. It could be anywhere from untangling all the hidden secrets kept in human nature to simply ensuring that your principles and values align properly.
Finding yourself to manifest yourself then puts you at an advantage, for you are working with yourself and not against yourself. And the traits that set you apart and make you stand out are more accessible and put to more use.
