You are unique. You are important. You are the only person who can bring yourself happiness. You are the only person who can find your talents and your purpose in life. You are the only person who CAN FIND YOURSELF!
Your purpose then, in finding yourself, is to meet life the best you can and enjoy it.
First, you must try to discover and develop the talents that you possess. The talent is there, it is in you, the problem is to discover it and dig it out.
Everyone has some talent, some ability to do some one thing or things very well. Few people make full use of their talents. You need to analyse yourself, to see yourself objectively, and to see possibilities in yourself. You will find your talents through intelligent application of your inner resources to the fields for which you are fitted.
Second, after you have found your talents, you need to have a sense of purpose in life, otherwise you will have a feeling of emptiness.
What is a sense of purpose? It’s your feelings of worthiness, aliveness and significance as a unique human being, it is your real reason for being here in the first place. It’s an internal feeling.
So, a sense of purpose can be achieved by matching up everything you do daily, with a feeling of importance and personal mission. A mantra you could use:
“ I am going to feel complete and fulfilled in my life because I am unique and worth it.”
Third, don’t settle for less than you could be. You can become anything you choose. You should think you are as important as any human who has ever lived before you.
And finally, it is never too late to change your position in life, be you middle-aged or old. True, some achievements require a certain length of time to accomplish and a certain amount of effort. But, while you may have missed out on many opportunities in life, you can adjust yourself to the circumstances that surround you and get more out of life than you have thought possible. Try to grow every day.
So, to find yourself, and you can, you have to give yourself a great deal of personal attention. Your life is yours to make of it what you will. But you have to find yourself and be yourself. Don’t allow others or any force of circumstances to keep you from doing the things you want most to do, for there, is where your success lies.
PS-And don’t forget to appreciate the worth of others, this will give you a balanced view of life.
Find myself? I didn’t know I was lost!
Good advice. I discovered after I retired, that I wanted to do something other than vegetate! Not a traveler or partyer, so started writing. Guess you could say I took up masochism!
Well said Dave. I have discovered what I love after retirement. I don’t think I could have done acting and singing for a living, but in retirement, I do exactly what I like.
“Finding” themselves is for people with too much time on their hands. If people stopped navel gazing and started actually doing things, instead of worrying about their own self-importance, seems to me the world would be a much better place… and people would be much happier.
I am as busy in my retirement as I was holding a full-time job. It is important to keep active. Keep our brains active. Look for a challenge in retirement and maybe, just maybe, we will find-or continue to enjoy-fulfillment and self-satisfaction. I agree with you, Dave, we should never stop following our dream no matter what stage of life we are in.
Wise words!
I think you can kid yourself into thinking you’ve found yourself only to find you’re only halfway there.
Two things that the late Steve Jobs said in his Stanford Uni speed come to mind: “Don’t settle” and “Stay hungry; stay foolish”. I try to remember that when I’m thinking of taking my foot off the gas.
In retirement, I’ve found myself in my past time of writing.
In exercising your imagination, writing stories, you get a lot of insights into your own life.
Writer Dave