Find Yourself!

“Strength isn’t something you have, it is something you find, usually one day at a time.”
Author Unknown

We often hear phrases such as “he’s a natural,” “she was born that way,” and “he’s just lucky” when referring to successful people. Many times we make the false assumption that people are just naturally talented or are naturally given something that we simply don’t have. Though I believe we all have different talents, interests, and abilities, I also believe that each of us has the capacity to be great.

The quote at the top of the blog illustrates something interesting. First, strength, or intelligence, or wisdom, or success, or courage, or really anything is not something automatically given to us but rather it is something we find through our actions day in and day out. We ultimately decide what we are!

For example, we wouldn’t say someone has strength unless we were aware of some things the person did that demonstrated strength. Or we wouldn’t call Michael Jordan a great basketball player if he had never picked up a ball. It was only after he practiced, played, worked-hard, and eventually proved himself to be worthy to be called a great basketball player that everyone recognized him as such.

Likewise, people are not given success, or strength, or courage, or wisdom rather they earn it by their actions. We don’t know we are a strong person until we overcome something that is difficult and prove it. Hence, we find our talents or good qualities as we practice them, usually one day at a time. Sure strength or courage may be a gift of ours that comes easier than other things, but if we do not exercise that gift, than are we really courageous or strong? We find our gifts and we find who we are in the “doing”.

For this reason each day is meaningful because it is a new challenge and a new opportunity for us to develop into the person we want to become. We aren’t necessarily automatically given who we are but we have the ability to create and find who we are. We can find strength, courage, success, or just about anything through our daily actions. Good traits are not automatic, we have to work at them and use them before we know we have them. And if we are not currently the person we want to be, or think we are, we have the power to change by altering our actions.

So what will you find today? Will you find strength, confidence, or success? Really, it is up to you. We have the power to shape our lives and become who we want to be! Because ___________________(fill in the blank) is not something we have, but _________________(fill in the blank) is something we find, usually one day at a time.