Do you know who you are?
I never thought it would be possible until the day it finally happened. I was having a conversation with a young lady and I asked her what her future plans were and she responded with a blank stare. A stare that dug so deeply into my soul that I was unsure if I should smile, stare back or get up and run. It made me uncomfortable. I had never met anyone who could not see past the very moment they were in. It was frightening. I was bewildered. I began wondering if this had been me at some point in my life?
Then it dawned on me. She had never been asked this question before nor had she even thought about it herself. It was foreign. A conversation that she could not have planned or prepared for, she had no point of reference to even begin babbling from. She was in shock. She was lost. Until that moment, she had never imagined the possibility of more.
I believe at some point in time, we have all been faced with this same scenario. Maybe not in a conversation with another, possibly only with ourselves. However, the bottom line is…we have had to face this question, and with most questions, it inevitably leads to another.
When thinking about what the future may hold for you, the most common train of thought is to begin thinking about what your skills and capabilities are. Sometimes the thought process will stop here as you begin to realize that things seem impossible or you tell yourself they simply can’t happen.
But what if I were to introduce you to a different train of thought?
What if I were to introduce you to a different train of thought? What if every time you began to think of your future, plan out your goals, or even subscribe to your personal vision for your life…what of you simply asked yourself, “Do you know who you are?”
Obviously, if you don’t know the answer to this question, then there is some leg work that will need to be done first. However, if you do. If you have the answer to the baseline question… then the answers to every question that follows should be easy. How might you ask? Let’s say you are someone who doesn’t like large crowds and loves music, would you rather work at or go to a concert or a private listening?
There are cues. From childhood until now about who we are and who we are to become. If we listen to those cues, or tune into them per se, then we will have a better chance of answering life’s questions correctly. Knowing who you are changes the game significantly. When you know who you are, you won’t have to give a blank stare when someone asks about your future plans. You might give a stare, but a smile will follow, because you will be able to see where you’re trying to go.
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