Post by Victor Atenaga (@victor_atenaga)

THE PERSON THEY TOLD YOU TO BE - Finding Yourself — Part 2

What if the person you have spent your entire life trying to become is not the person you were created to be?

Think about that for a moment.

From childhood, people begin to tell us who we should be.

Our parents have expectations. Our teachers have predictions. Society has standards. Our friends have opinions. Even our culture has a script already written for us.

Some of these voices genuinely want the best for us. Others are simply projecting their fears, disappointments and unfulfilled dreams onto us.

And somewhere in the middle of all these voices, we can lose our own.

A child who loves music is told to become a lawyer. A young woman with extraordinary leadership abilities is told to be less ambitious. A young man with a brilliant idea is discouraged because nobody in his family has ever done anything like it.

Slowly, they begin to exchange their dreams for acceptance.

They stop asking, "What am I created to do?" and begin asking, "What will people think of me?"

And that is how people become strangers to themselves.

There is nothing wrong with receiving counsel. In fact, wise counsel can save you from costly mistakes.

But there is a difference between allowing people to guide you and allowing them to define you.

People can help you discover your direction, but they should not become the authors of your identity.

Sometimes, the greatest prison is not a physical building. It is the fear of disappointing people whose approval you have spent your whole life trying to earn.

You are afraid to try something new because someone might laugh.

You are afraid to change direction because someone might call you confused.

You are afraid to express your gifts because someone once told you that you were not good enough.

So you keep living a life that looks acceptable to everyone else but feels increasingly unfamiliar to you.

Listen carefully.

"You can honour your parents without becoming a prisoner of their ambitions."

You can respect your mentors without surrendering your individuality.

You can appreciate people's opinions without allowing those opinions to determine your destiny.

God did not create you as a duplicate of another person.

Your uniqueness is not a mistake that needs to be corrected. It is a gift that needs to be understood, developed and responsibly expressed.

But finding yourself will sometimes require difficult decisions.

You may need to unlearn certain beliefs about yourself.

You may need to challenge labels you have carried for years.

You may even need the courage to disappoint some expectations without dishonouring the people who hold them.

"Because a life spent trying to satisfy everybody may eventually become a life in which you have never truly lived."

TODAY'S PERSONAL AUDIT

Ask yourself:

1. What am I doing today simply because people expect me to do it?
2. What dream, gift or ambition have I abandoned because someone discouraged me?
3. Whose approval am I most afraid of losing?
4. If I were free from the fear of people's opinions, what would I begin doing differently?

Don't rush your answers.

Sometimes, finding yourself begins with discovering how much of your life has been shaped by other people's expectations.

Remember this: "You can listen to everybody, but you must not become everybody."

Find your voice. Discover your convictions. Take responsibility for your life.

"Become the person God created you to be, not merely the person people have become comfortable with. " -Victor Atenaga

LET'S TALK

"Have you ever abandoned something you genuinely wanted to do because of what people would say?"

What did that experience teach you?

I'd love to hear your thoughts.

#FindingYourself #VictorAtenaga #LekeeLekee #SelfDiscovery #Identity #PersonalGrowth #Purpose

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