Tainted

Have you ever heard the phrase, "I need to find myself" or "I don't think I know who I am"? Well I've been thinking a lot about this lately. You would think that as we grow older, it would be easier to discover ourselves but many of us seem to struggle.

I myself have felt the desire to find myself, these moments have come after break ups with boyfriends, feeling like i have no hobbies, or stalking someone on Facebook and thinking "I am not as cool as them, and my life is definitely not as exciting".  But recently, I've come up with a theory. I believe that the reason we feel like we need to "find" ourselves is because we have been tainted.

Think about when you were a child. Now, think about the things you loved and enjoyed to do. As you think about those things, think about whether or not someone made you like those things. Probably not.

I am nannying a two-year-old and he does what he wants. He told his mom he wanted to grow his hair out, because that's what he likes. He plays with cars because that is what he enjoys. He doesn't want to put the broom away because he wants to touch the ceiling with it.

My point is, when we were kids we were not tainted by anybody's opinion or the latest trend. I believe many of us struggle to find out who we really are because we tend to follow what is cool or do what your HOT crush likes to do or wear what looks good on her. And once we mold ourselves into what we see, we tend to lose touch with who we really used to be.

Sometimes, these outside influences help us discover what we enjoy and who we would like to be, but if you find yourself struggling to be content with yourself- go back to the basics. Think about the dreams you had as a kid, what made you happy, what you would tell your friends that you liked and apply it to today. Much of it could be the same, which will help you understand who you are :)

In fact, anyone who reads this, I want you to make your own post about what makes you, YOU. Share 5, 10 or 20 things that are unique about yourself. You'll be surprised that you know more about who you are than you think, and you may not need to continue "finding yourself".