Who are you? What are your values? Where are the roots of your soul planted?

Most people spend years trying to figure this out—some may never know the answers to these questions.   

Nowadays, our generations are becoming shallower and turning into “hipsters” or what they consider cool. Which, in all honesty, is just a defense mechanism that our minds have been programmed to do in order to avoid knowing the true side of ourselves.

For the longest time, I had no idea of who I was exactly, which is completely understandable since I’m only 20. I mean, how many 20-year-olds can say, “Hey, I know who I am and I know everything about my personality?”  But after a long summer of self-reflection and meditation, I feel that I have a better understanding of myself and my values.

It is a universal truth that those who are more in touch with themselves experience a more balanced and peaceful life. For example, yoga masters are some of the most peaceful people in the world in my opinion. They are so deeply connected with their inner souls and the earth that they can pretty much find their balance in any position.

I had the opportunity this summer to talk to one of my favorite Instagrammers, a flexibility guru named Brandon. He told me that the key to achieving any goal isn’t working your butt off day in and day out, but it is the ability to pull it from your inner self and just do it. Of course, he wasn’t saying that training isn’t necessary and that if you just believe in yourself you can achieve any multitude of things. I interpreted it as, if one trains with a purpose and believes in their skill set, that they can achieve a magnitude of things.

It’s a cliché thing to say but it is the truth. Once you understand yourself and your limitations, your life will more than likely improve by a landslide, especially because once you know your limits you can start pushing yourself harder to go above and beyond.

In this day and age, why don’t we know ourselves? Everyone has told me that I will only truly know myself when I’m older and experienced more life events. But why? How does going through life ultimately help you decide who you are? I mean, heck, I have been living life for 20 years and, through society’s eye, I probably don’t know myself and what I want in life, which is completely false. I know that I want to graduate, I want to make others happy and I want to live a long and successful life.

I know what makes me happy, mad and sad. I have been on this quest to figure everything out. 

Now, I know that I haven’t completely learned everything about myself, but hey, I challenge you to tell me how much you exactly know about yourself… are you truly happy being you?

 

KySean Gregory is a advertising and graphic design major and can be contacted at [email protected].