Who am I?

It’s the question everyone has to wrestle with at some point in their life, and I am no different. I used to agonise over this, desperate to find an answer that might satisfy me.

Am I meant to be a writer? A lawyer? A diplomat? A wife? A mother? An artist? A singer? A blogger? A humanitarian aide? A fast food worker? A doctor? A student? A teacher? A…

The list goes on, and yet nothing ever seemed to answer the question, nothing ever seemed to fill the whole it left.

The real answer came to me in a single moment, as I stood in the shower, painstakingly attempting to find the answer to this question of who am I?

But first I have some other questions for you: Do you think there is any actual answer to this? Do you think that a single person out there has actually ‘found out’ who they are? Do you think anyone on this planet right now has absolutely found their ‘true self’? Do you think this is the question we should be asking.

You want to hear the answer I got when I asked myself, ‘Who am I?’

You do not find yourself, you make yourself.

You cannot find some potential future you that does not yet exist. You must make them. You must lead a life, take chances, and decide each day what who you want to be.

The decisions you made in the past have created this version of you that is reading this right now, but your current decisions and future decisions will create the new version of you that you dream of becoming.

But what if I don’t know who I want to be?

Well that’s a whole other question, and I can only offer you this advice: take a step and look around. Try something, try anything. Nothing in your life is wasted my friend, every experience, every decision, every lesson is all teaching you something. You may not see how it is all going to fit together right now, but that isn’t the point. Take steps or take bounding leaps, try new things and decide if you want to stay on that path or change it.

Our world is so big, and the possibilities so grand. If you look for them you will find them, if you try new things they will not go without being rewarded. You may take the long way around to the destination where you would like to go, but the journey will not be boring.

Remember that your life is what you make it. Some will have easier starts than others, and some will face greater challenges and struggles, but your life is worth it. You are worth putting in the effort for. You are worth taking the steps to change your life.

And I hope that on that journey, you would remember to help others on their journey’s too. We are all here trying to figure it out, so be kind and be helpful. Guide others, inform them, provide for them, and care for them when you can. The kindness you spread, the help you give, the love you share will not be wasted, and may return to you in the moments when you need it most.

Choose to make your life the way you want it to be.

So, I’d love to hear what choices you are going to make today to start making yourself and your life the way you want it to be.