Finding Yourself

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Finding yourself is not an easy thing to do, especially when we live in a world that is constantly telling us how we must be. I would say that I am currently in a stage where I have no idea ‘who I am’ but I am no longer worried. I’ve been made to come to the realisation that finding yourself is a part of life and ultimately a good thing. It may feel confusing at the moment but it’s important to re-evaluate situations in order to grow and become a better version of yourself.

Social media only exacerbates any anxiety we may have about our identities or ‘fitting in’ if we already feel like we don’t belong. “He’s doing this, and “She looks so good doing that” and “She’s doing so well with this” but what we often fail to remember is that we are not those people. Often we forget to ask ourselves who we are. What am I good at doing? What do I like about myself? What do other people like about me? If we spent more time focussing on, and developing these traits then maybe we would have found ourselves a lot faster. Secondly, social media only represents a small aspect of peoples lives. I don’t think it hurts to be reminded enough times that people only show certain aspects of their lives to the world. Think of all the people you know and all the problems they have; does it always look that way to the outside world? All the people you know that fit into whatever they are meant to fit into, are they really being true to themselves? If the answer is yes, then that still doesn’t concern you because what you should be concerned about is being your true self.

“She’s changed.”

On the journey to finding yourself, you will also face a lot of obstacles. People always believe that people can only be one way; the way in which they remember them. But people can change and grow through their experiences or through a realisation. Often we realise that we have not been ourselves all along and we were so trapped in this phase that we went along – sometimes for our whole lives cough mid life-crisis cough – being the person who we thought we should have been because we never really took the time to question who we actually are.

I personally believe that finding yourself is an ongoing journey and that we may never truly know ourselves entirely or that we may know ourselves for a certain period of time and then change all again. It’s not possible to fit every aspect of yourself into 14 characters, so do not feel pressure to fit into a society that favours the niche. Remember that identity is often a way for other people to identify you and figure you out. Once you already know who you are then the validation of others is not sought or needed.