KNOW THYSELF

KNOW THYSELF - Socrates. 

Never think that you know yourself well enough. God created each one of us to be unique and in our uniqueness, we discover something new about ourselves everyday. Never limit yourself to what you think you can do, but start doing the things you thought you couldn't do. The only limitation to your progress is YOU. 

Discovering your identity starts with KNOWING THYSELF.  Socrates puts it in 2 words, "KNOW THYSELF", it means so much and makes a whole lot of sense.  Take time off to sit down and be with yourself.  Make an inventory of your life.  What are your gifts, talents, special skills?  Done?  Next, ask yourself, am I using them in my current life (school, career, etc.)?  Now you are on your way to starting your own journey.  It took time for me to realize what I wanted to do, discover what I am capable of and realize the gifts I am blessed with.  For years I have been living another person's dream.  Living in fear of failure and somehow ended up thinking that I was one.  I have hurt other people's feelings in the process but it is a necessary step for me to pursue my own passion and use whatever God-given gifts I have for His glory.  

People around you, especially those who have succeeded in hard times will never understand your decision most of the time.  Although there are short cuts in life, so they say, not all of them can be beneficial for you.  You have to understand that there are certain experiences you need to go through in life, regardless if another person has been there, done that.  Sometimes, it's only a matter of looking at the situation in another perspective.  Sure, they failed, it doesn't mean that you will fail too.  Its not always the destination, its the journey of life.  Our loved ones, because of their tremendous love for us, shielded us from the pains of the world, they didn't want us to go through the pain and hardship they went through.  They don't realize, however, that their good intentions will bring more harm than good.  They failed to realize that the journey made them who they are now, strong, vigilant, wiser, etc.  I am not saying we need to go through every single experience, my point is that there are certain experiences that we need to go through ourselves.

The farmer breaks the ground day in and day out.  He weeds it with his bare hands, he does this until his hands begin to swell and heal.  Then does the same procedure from dawn till dusk, until the land is ready for the seedlings.  He doesn't understand the hardship he is going through in order to feed his family.  All he sees is his misfortune of having to work the ground day in and day out.  Little does he realize that as he does this, his body has become stronger, his hands tougher.  His sight is limited to the fruits of his harvest and what he has to do in order to make a living to feed his family.  Yet again, he failed to see that "good food" is already within his reach.

This is our current mindset, we toil and toil but we don't appreciate the fruits of our harvest.  We always aspire for things we don't need, we spend too much on things we don't even use.  But once we realize the beauty of our own uniqueness, our individuality, then, we will start to do things excellently, we will start to pursue knowledge and improve skill to create and innovate things that would improve our way of life.

Discover your passion, nurture and develop your abilities and use it to create new things.  Believe me, success will follow no matter what.  I do not claim to be a success, YET.  But in this journey God has provided, I will start to do what He wants and not what the world dictates.  And regardless of what the world says, I will trust in His WORD until the day he takes me home.