March 9: Discovering Yourself

First of all, I was unable to blog yesterday because someone rear ended one of my son's car while he was on his way to work.  My son was stopped and a big jeep plowed into the back of his car at about 25-35 miles an hour.  I spent several hours at the emergency room with him, making sure he was not hurt seriously, including his heart.  

He was allowed to go home with lots of pain medication and needs follow up doctor visits with his cardiologist and an orthopedic doctor.  And he can't go back to work until they give their okay.  Oh and the back end of his car is totally caved in.

And as if that wasn't enough...guess what it is doing right now?  Yep...it's snowing!  Last thing I wanted to see.  And this is only the first of two storms that will visit me between now and the weekend!

On to the focus of 'discovering yourself'.  Each of us has our own history and that history probably has many ups and downs...good things and not so good things.  Have you every taken the time to consider your 'story'?  Maybe now is a good time to take the time to remember it.  

You may find that some of your current actions or reactions are because of something that happened long ago.  For instance, have you shied away from learning something new like riding a bike only to remember a time when you tried learning a long time ago and being laughed because balance did not come right away?  Now ask yourself, are you not learning now because of not being able to balance or is it because you were laughed at when you were younger?

Not only is looking at our history a good way to get to know ourselves, but it is also a time to ask hard questions.  Questions like how is our history dictating our current actions?  And it does take time.  Not just a few minutes but an investment of time throughout our entire lives.  For right now, though, spend those 20 minutes of time each day thinking about who you are.  (And I would suggest that you spend some time each week for the rest of your life, getting to know yourself.)

One way to help is to create a Tree about Yourself - A Me Tree!  Yes, it may seem like a kindergarten activity of drawing but it may also help you to understand who you are and why you are.  Check out this example...

Create your own tree with as many leaves as you want.  Then write down a word or phrase in each leaf that you have discovered about yourself.  Things like...strong, willing to try something new, questioning, etc.  

Or you can put up two different colored leaves, one on which you can write words or phrases about who you are now and one that reflects who you were.  That would be a great way to show the progress you made.  For instance, 'nervous to learn something new' and 'learned to ride a bike'!  

And don't forget to use your small journal as you travel on this adventure of discovering yourself.  Even if you only jot down some words or phrases.  Writing it down makes it easier to remember and even understand.

Talk with you tomorrow...