Who Am I Becoming?
At the beginning of 2020, I attended a personal development conference. It was about who we are and who we want to be, and how to move forward with that awareness.
We were each given a card to hold for our conference picture. The one given to me had the word BECOMING. Just that single word.
It reminded me that what matters isn’t found in what we are doing. What matters is who we are becoming.
How do we become the person we want to be?
Insight #1: Have the courage to embrace your uniqueness.
At some point in life, we all become conscious of “image,” and we strive on some level to conform to what is “acceptable.” We’re essentially social creatures, and we want to be accepted. And we quite often fall prey to the belief that we must become someone other than who we are to achieve acceptance. The alignment of who we are to what we do is the single most vital contributor to how we feel about ourselves and our life. When we experience guilt, stress, or anxiety, we often have an alignment issue. But it will take courage to move past the image and be ourselves.
Insight #2: Don’t live a second-hand life.
When we adopt an image that is not true to who we are, we think it will give us something “better.” But in fact, it gives us something far less than we deserve. We are always living in the shadow of that image. It does not empower us; it limits us. The best energies have been “used up” by the original.
In the documentary of her 2011 tour, Katy Perry talked about this. She said that everyone was trying to “place” her – to find a spot for her in the market. They were trying to find another star she could emulate and be the next “??”. Her response was brilliant. She wasn’t interested in being the next anyone. She was the first Katy Perry. Yes!
Insight #3: Self-discovery never ends. It takes patience and perseverance.
It takes patience and perseverance to know ourselves. It takes real courage to see ourselves truthfully. And each layer must be sifted and sorted to understand everything that makes us unique. The good, the bad, and the beautiful! There is no doubt that we hide some of the best parts of ourselves. We must be willing to both seek them and bring them into the light. As we excavate who we are, we also understand more fully our purpose.
Insight #4: We rise, not despite our challenges, but rather because of them.
In so many great triumph stories, it becomes clear that success doesn’t happen despite any challenges. It happens BECAUSE of the challenges. It’s a subtle shift in perspective, but it’s everything. We can be grateful for what is happening because we can have faith that what is ahead is only possible because of where we are. Everything we experience is a building block for our future selves.
Becoming our best self is not an easy path. It is, however, always the right path.
We need courage to face who we are and courage to grow into the person we can and want to be.
A good question to ask ourselves every day is this: Who am I becoming?
