We all feel lost sometimes. Especially in your early 20s, it’s normal to find life getting a little cloudy and to forget who you are. Life gets so hectic and taking time to find yourself becomes something we often put on the back burner. I can tell you from experience, though, that doing so will only make you lose yourself even more. It’s important to take time every day to ask yourself the questions “Who am I?” and “What do I want in life and what place do I want to have in this world?” We are all so young and we think that we have a lifetime ahead to figure out who we are, but the truth is, the more time you take prolonging to dig deep and find yourself, the longer you will feel lost. You will get more out of life when you know exactly who you are and what you stand for. When you try to be too many things at once, you will lose yourself. Many people don’t even know where to start when it comes to finding themselves. The more I have taken the time to think about where my life is going and how I want it to look like, the more I begin to find myself. Finding yourself means asking yourself these questions and then trying to answer them.
Who do you surround yourself with?
While finding yourself, it is so important to surround yourself with people who can help you through it. People who you can talk to and share your deepest feelings with. Acknowledging what you are feeling and talking about it does not mean you are weak. It means you have the strength to face internal problems and work through them. If you are surrounding yourself with people who are only skin deep and who only focus on things in life that bring fleeting happiness, you will lose yourself. It is so important to remember that you are who you are with, and if the people you are with also have no sense of self, how are you supposed to find your own?
What makes you truly happy?
There are so many things in life that bring us happiness, but the truth is, do those things bring true happiness. A happiness that makes you excited to wake up every morning and a happiness that gives you purpose. You have to do the things that bring true, genuine happiness. When you do, you will gain a stronger sense of self. If you are only doing things for the in-the-moment happiness, it will always leave you feeling emptier than before. It will drain you of that sense of self because you wont be living with purpose. Stop turning everywhere else besides yourself and what truly makes you happy, because you will simply end up nowhere.
Are you following your heart?
If you have to fight against what your heart truly wants, how are you supposed to find yourself? How are you supposed to know who you are if you are not giving yourself the things that you want and the things that you so deserve? We all have this sixth sense; it is in our heart and in our gut. If we are straying from what that is screaming out, we will end up feeling lost. We lose ourselves when we take the path others have deemed as right for us instead of following our own. Make a commitment to do what you love and you will see life become brighter and your cloudy mind becomes clearer. The period of finding yourself can be so confusing, but if you listen closely to your heart, you will start to question everything, and all of those questions will eventually result in answers.
When you have lost yourself, you will start to feel paralyzed with indecision and a panic that old behaviors that used to work when you were younger, no longer work. You will feel empty and overcome with confusion. Asking yourself the questions above each day will help you rediscover who you are again. The answers may not come at first, but if you stick to it, they will. Figuring yourself out will require traveling into your darkest depths and bringing up everything that you have hidden, repressed, covered and locked up. It will be a tough journey, but will only lead you to a place of love and peace in the end.
You will never be able to find yourself until you have lost yourself.
