Have you ever stood in front of a mirror and wondered, ‘Who really is that person staring right back at you?’
One of the most impactful books I have read in recent times is former US First Lady Michelle Obama’s BECOMING. In it, Mrs. Obama narrated step-by-step how she became the First Lady of the United States of America —one of the most powerful nations in the world. I highly recommend BECOMING to anyone who aspires to be a change maker.
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You see, most of us dream BIG. We dream of being successful at our chosen careers, of meeting (and marrying) a perfect life partner, of having beautiful, well-behaved children; we dream of being admired by our colleagues and making destiny-defining impacts nationally as well as internationally.
However, very few of us can answer the question, “who are you?” Let’s ponder on this thought, how then do you know if the dreams you are dreaming are indeed yours (and not someone else’s idea of what your dreams should be) if you don’t know YOU?
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The fact is, we can’t work with what we don’t know and expect it to produce our desired result. It is like pottery making —no one can mould clay into the shape they desire without understanding the nature of the clay. The same goes with dreaming of becoming and expecting those dreams to come true. At the risk of sounding like a broken record, if you don’t know who YOU are, you CAN dream all you want, but your dreams will never be fully realized. Nor would you, yourself, fully become.
Counselling, of course, is an excellent method of discovering who we are. Most people who have been counselled at one point or the other by well-meaning experts are often told ‘believe in yourself,’ especially regarding whatever it was they were fighting to accomplish.
Since very few of the experts ever pointed it out, those who have been advised rarely ever thought ‘knowing’ was necessary before ‘believing.’ Hence, they fought (or struggle) to attain their goals, because their focus was always on the ‘believing.’ They knew no other way to think.
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"...let’s ponder on this thought, how then do you know if the dreams you are dreaming are indeed yours (and not someone else’s idea of what your dreams should be) if you don’t know YOU? "
Looking back, don’t you wish your ‘motivators’ had spent more time counselling you to ‘know’ YOU? After all, how can one believe in what one doesn’t even know? What (or more appropriately who) is there to believe?
The truth of the matter is that true self-fulfilment (in other words, dreams-fulfilment) is achieved by adequate knowledge (or knowing) of the self. This philosophy, in a nutshell, is the thesis of my upcoming book, ‘FROM FEARFUL TO FIERCE: Know Who You Are and Live a Life of No Regrets’.
I look forward to walking the journey of self-discovery with you, because, the way I see it, true self-realization is a community effort: a one for all and all for one venture.
Welcome to OUR journey.
Dazzle as you discover YOU!
Sarah Udoh-Grossfurthner is a Nigerian-born writer of poetry and prose. Her work covers the highs and lows of the human heart (in her words, Sarah says she ‘writes from the heart to touch hearts and inspire action). Sarah’s publications include ‘But He Calls Me Blessed: When the Unbelievable Happens to Believers’, ‘The Old Woman Who Refused to Die’, ‘Just an
Ordinary Guy’, ‘Pathways of Life’, ‘From Fearful To Fierce’ (out in 2021),’ God Does Not Make Stupid’ (out in 2022). She is also an active blogger on MEDIUM - the international and hugely popular podium for writers, publishers, creators, political analysts, and many more (link provided below).
Sarah has been featured in TIME magazine. Her poem ‘Mirror Image’ was converted into the theme song for a Nigerian breast cancer awareness concert organised by Betty Irabor (Genevieve Magazine) in 2005. Sarah is also the co-editor of Payback and Other Stories: an anthology of African and African Diaspora short stories spearheaded by the University of Vienna, African Studies Department.
Sarah holds a BA (Hons) in Diplomatic Studies, and MA in Professional Writing from University College Falmouth, Cornwall, UK.
Sarah is a mother of two ‘super-awesome’ (her words) children. She lives in and writes from Vienna, Austria.
Comments 12
Thank you for stopping by, Lili. Your comment adds to the collective voice we all need to bloom and blossom.
Thanks for evoking this truth Sarah! It is indeed true that to become or attempt to fulfil one’s dream for oneself, there is that important first step of self discovery. This indeed is the step one undeniably needs to achieve, in order to truly live the life God has created for one to live, to its fullest capacity!
Thank you for stopping by, Lili. Your comment adds to the collective voice we all need to bloom and blossom.
Quite insightful and gets one thinking and hopefully will help us look inward. Good one Sarah ??
Well done Sarah. Beautiful. Knowing who we are is vital to our very existence – to thriving – and reaching Gods purpose for our lives. On this journey it becomes glaring who we really are and not who society and culture dictate us to be. Look forward to reading more from you dear.
Great work Sarah!
Knowing yourself and living in acceptance is the first love and love itself!! From this grows all love and oneness! ❤️
Self reflexion is the basis for happiness in life and personal success. Right questions help to check out who I am.
Discovering You is a journey many like me find pretty daunting to take on. Now, after this read, I am very curious to find out if there’s more to me than meets the eye or than I already know. Good one Sarah. Thanks.
Thank you. Princess Pat. Believe me, there is more to you than you know. Don’t be afraid to explore.?
This is one question that we all should ask ourselves ‘Who are you?
Fantastic! I totally agree with you, there is need for someone to know him or herself very well before pursuing an objective. It’s good to know one’s capability. I can’t wait to lay my hands on the jet to be published book of yours.
This is a powerful question and a very insightful post. Knowing who you are is indeed the bedrock to becoming. I love this??????