I think deep down, the things we love define us. I think that those things never really change. Yes, I think we add things to them, but I don't know if you ever stop loving something once it has found its way into you heart. What are you passionate about? Or maybe a better question is: what were you passionate about? I have found that in my moments of deepest confusion and frustration, I can turn back to something that I love to find comfort.

Losing yourself happens before you know what is happening. And then you are left looking around wondering where to begin when trying to piece your identity back together. It is a tough place to be, because you feel like you firmly knew who you were not so long ago. How did you get so off track? You weren't paying attention. You got lazy. You gave up the things that you used to do. For me, when I knew who I was, I was involved. I was constantly busy with one project or another. However, when I got into college, I felt like I only did those things in order to get into a good school.

I lost my purpose, my end goal, because I convinced myself that I was only an active community member because I thought it would satisfy the criteria I had in my head for acceptance. So, i stopped doing the things that defined me. I stopped participating, I stopped organizing, I stopped everything. And I descended one day at a time until I hit my rock bottom. It is not a fun place to be, and I knew that as soon as I arrived at this pitiful destination. The question is now: how do I get back up.

My suggestion is to ask yourself if maybe those things you thought you were doing for the wrong were actually done because they made you happy. Sometimes, we get so wound up in our goals, that we don't realize how little attention we are actually paying to the rest of our lives. Progress for the sake of progress is a sorry existence. How did you deal with the stressors in your past that you can't deal with now? Try to remember the things you have buried in your heart. Let them resurface and bring you the joy they used to.

The things that made us happy then will most likely make us happy now. Maybe you just forgot what that felt like. Maybe you forgot that feeling after a good run, or how the stroke of a paint brush on a blank canvas feels. Maybe you forgot how you feel after a conversation with a friend you once had. It is okay that you forgot, but now it is time to remember. Help yourself become the person you were or the new person you want to become. You don't have to leave your past in your past. Pick up the good pieces and figure out how they fit into your life now.