BEING ‘ME’

Many Times in my childhood , I would find myself wishing that I was like so and so; this usually depended on the situation I found myself in. Over time I realised that I performed best when  I acted as my true self.

Now I know for sure that each one of us is loaded and equipped with the gifts and talents to be able to work and function as the unique individual you are created to be. As that unique individual, I have something to offer to the world that I alone can give to make the world a better place.

A few of us know their calling by  adolescence, the majority know by their late twenties and a small number never get to know  it until mid-life.

We all start off by going out to explore-seeking for new ideas and experiences in the world around us and beyond. Through those experiences we learn our strengths and flaws and struggle for some time to change them where we can.

There are some little things that express  your uniqueness: I remember donkey years ago how our primary school teachers tried to change left-handed students to writing with their right hands with little success. It is now common knowledge that about 15% humans  are left –handed.

Parents, family, friends wants us to conform to society’s standards and when we do not, we are labelled rebels.

Most adolescents conform to please family and friends or conform just to fit in among their peers.

By the age of thirty, most of us have found out who we really are: our strengths and flaws and accepted it and live comfortably with it. We start to enjoy asserting and making ourselves visible wherever we are. For we have learned that being “me” is the most natural thing to be- spontaneous, and costs little.

As they say: The hunt is n’t over until both the heart and your belly are full. The yearning in your heart ceases as the soul soars and the two are unified.

The psychologist would tell you that your Ego and Soul are dancing in complete harmony.  You feel whole and connected .There is joy and spontaneity in your life. You feel you are in charge of your life.

This is your Paradise created through your own efforts. Your duty is now to protect and enjoy it for as long as you can. It will cushion you against whatever life throws at you. As both your heart and soul are unified; when you work at what you love, it is no longer work but fun. You have found spiritual depth and authenticity. You are terribly productive and at the same time happy and content.

Then mid-life sails in and docks, many of us reassess our accomplishments relative to the aspirations of our youth. Suddenly the career becomes unrewarding, the job is not satisfying or you feel you are in the wrong place. A few may feel confined or empty and like adolescents, they go out once again to explore. They will not stop seeking until they find something new that makes them feel more connected and whole. This opens them up to doing things with more pleasure and ease.

This explains why some people change jobs or careers or migrate or scale bigger mountains during mid-life than before. They want to live their lives for themselves. The nagging realisation that mortality is not far away makes the search for something better an urgent one.

Andrew Sachs’ quote comes to my mind:  “Death is more universal than life; everyone dies but not everyone lives.”

Two other quotes about living life fully have just floated in. They are quotes by one of America’s leading motivational speaker and author Leslie Calvin “ Les Brown”

“ Too many of us are not living our dreams because we are living our fears.’’

And “The graveyard is the richest place on earth, because it is here you find all the hopes and dreams that were never fulfilled, the books that were never written, the songs that were never sung, the inventions that were never shared, the cures that were never discovered, all because someone was too afraid to take the first step, keep with the problem, or determined to carry out their dream.’’

If you are reading this post now, take heart: it is never too late to find your calling. May you have the courage and self-confidence to follow your dreams.

You cannot live life fully until you have known who you are deep down and embraced yourself lovingly. Then you go out to engage effectively with the world around you: doing what you enjoy and love otherwise you just exist or keep wandering through life.

Thank you for making time to read my blog. In case this post helps you or fires you to pick up something you had pushed to the back burner, I would be very happy to learn about it.

 

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