It’s common for self-reflective individuals to ponder their true nature and how best to express it in the world. Sometimes we refer to this as uncovering our life calling, the realisation of our soul or even enlightenment. No matter how you dress it up this desire rests on the principle that we possess an innate Self-identity that if uncovered will lend life greater depth of meaning.
This isn't an attempt to denigrate this aspiration but to offer a more pro-active way of approaching the situation. Instead of trying to uncover some hidden aspect to your being simply decide who you want to be in the present moment and start creating it. Surely this is the real purpose to existence anyway. Stop waiting for permission, divine intervention or the perfect circumstances to become who and what you want to be - you’ll be waiting forever!
You might ask, “But what if I make the wrong decision?” Is that even possible? We have an inbuilt compass for these things in terms of what makes us happy and what hastens depression and anxiety. If you know the conditions that would bring greater joy and excitement to your life, that’s where you should be headed. If something brings you feelings of dread and unhappiness, that has to be changed or removed.
Taking this path is a courageous one and opens up the idea that we are not a fixed personality but a potential multitude of Selves. We just need to pick more wisely which Self we would prefer to express. Most people will intuitively know this to be true. We’ve all experienced this superficially when acting differently in different situations and company. At the extreme end of the scale pathological personality disorders are known to exhibit separate physical characteristics and even diseases manifesting in different personalities. Not to promote schizophrenia, just to illustrate the extent to which our sense of personality dictates our biology.
How then do we get started on this courageous journey? Simple; decide who you would most like to be, what you’d like to experience and “fake it until you make it.” Your TrueSelf will show up on the way.