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Monday 20 December 2010

Still Searching

A Guest Blog By Simon Peters

There are certain moments in your life when you realise you’re empty. You have them. It’s not for me to say what they are. It could be looking on Facebook and seeing that your first girlfriend is married with two children. It could be looking at yourself objectively and realising that any task you have so far set yourself has been left unfulfilled. No matter what it is, it’s a mirage. You think you are empty because you think everyone else is fulfilled. You think you’ve failed because everyone else has succeeded (and they can spell succeeedddded). You think being married is a goal you’ve always had, but one that you haven’t managed. You think you’ve always wanted a child, because other people who have a child seem fulfilled. You have a nagging sense that you’ve failed at something, but you’re not entirely sure what at…

The simple fact is that, whenever you feel down, whenever you feel unfulfilled, whenever you feel EMPTY, you have to realise… It’s because you are still searching. Find what you want to do. What inspires you? What are you good at? What do you like? Ask these questions. Answer them. Act on them. Some people need a job/husband/baby/new console…What do you need?

The answer is… Well, that’s up to you. If you genuinely ask the question, you’ll know how you want to spend your life.

Ps: if you can’t answer these questions, it’s because you’re not really trying. Don’t answer ‘What inspires you?’ with ‘I know people are inspired by this…’. Don’t answer ‘What are you good at?’ with ‘People have said I’m good at this…’. Don’t answer ‘ What do you like?’ with ‘Everyone I know likes this’…

GENUINELY answer the questions for yourself, about yourself, using yourself as a barometer.

The strange thing is, that’s once you know the answers about yourself, they aren’t important.

You end up just wanting to help others ask the questions…

2 comments:

  1. Great post, especially this time of year. My kids inspire me to be the best person I can be. Becoming the person we want to be is a daily process, never easy, but always worth the fight. Thanks for the post, really got me thinking this morning.

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