The greatest challenge in life is discovering who you are

Sometimes it is not easy figuring out who you truly are and what your purpose is in life. It becomes even more difficult when you start a family, then have children - and now your immediate objectives become providing a happy, loving, abundant upbringing for them.

However, at what age should you have known who you are, identified your purpose, and established your values, visions, goals, motivations, and beliefs?

You may remember puberty or around the 12-15 age range, when you were in high school. For most it is during this time that identity development began, that you developed that sense of self. But we have a broken school system that fosters conformity, therefore creating broken people.

Psychologists presume that identity formation is a matter of “finding oneself” by matching one's talents and potential with available social roles.

Though, all too often previous generations and even more so this generation are forming their oneself on what they have been told by others, but not by what they have discovered on their own. Knowing your inner self requires a high level of introspection and self-awareness. In our fast paced, results-orientated society, teenagers and adults get mixed up in the whirlwind of chaos, becoming aimless.

“Knowing yourself is the beginning of all wisdom.” Aristotle said.

If you have not yet found yourself, let me assure you it is never too late to embark on and fully embrace that journey - even if you have children or especially when you have children. It is important that a strong you, a self-confident you, a self-ware you is raising the next generation.  

Begin by taking some important me-time, meditate and listen to your true self. Do not be afraid of silence and accept all the good and bad that enfolds in front of you.

Discover what you are truly passionate about and follow that path.

Read books! Take time to read a variety of books by yourself. If you have children, take time to read books with your children. By doing so you will help them to embark on their own journey to discover themselves and ultimately live a fuller, happier life. As I wrote in my previous blog post, reading can help develop your children’s personal opinions, as it encourages deeper thoughts, emotional intelligence, and imagination, while it is cultivating growth, development, and self-awareness.

Finding yourself is not a status quo, it remains a voyage.

I passionately believe that books, aside from collecting personal experiences, are the greatest tool to accompany you on that sail through life.

Give the gift of books to yourself and to your children. Read to them or with them as often as you possibly can.

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