The Long Road to the Self

Self-Discover: "the process of figuring out the one thing you think you should know better than anybody else but don't." This of course is my own definition...but I find it to be pretty accurate. I've had several of the youth in my Church tell me that they were seeking to discover themselves, and I simply turn them and say "God speed." It's a long, hot, and messy road at times Its a great challenge of life that all must experience, but some find it far more difficult than others.

In my own life, I have found it to be both difficult and exciting! The things that I've seen God do in my life have been phenomenal, and I am left amazed with it all. I have found that the most life changing things have happened in foreign countries and/or among communities of people that I never would have dreamed of having the privilege of being connected with. I am still on this journey, I'm still learning about who I am and who God is. I look back and wish I had learned a lot of these things so much sooner, and i wonder how many others feel the same way. The problem is that the Church and our families are supposed to be very active in helping us do this, but sadly the Church is not doing its jobs and families have been so broken that they fall short of being able help one another. Yet there is a responsibility left up to the individual to act upon.

Many people have not begun searching for themselves, figuring themselves out. They are lazy or unwilling to do what is necessary, or they are just not interested enough, or they think it unnecessary to understand who they are.

But there are also many people who never slow down and are just doing one thing after another. To those of you who are like that...I would say STOP. Take a moment to breathe and to think. It is necessary to take the time to process life and to process what you experience and what you know. Sometimes we are required to act, and other time we just need to slow down for a moment and think. See the world that lies around us and not let moments pass us by because we are too frantic about figuring out we are.