Dare to know yourself--a guest post {Day 30}

Please enjoy a guest post today from my lovely daughter, Kara. I invited her to be a part of this 31 Day series and she said yes! 

Hi! I’m Kara, Anne’s daughter! Mom asked me if I wanted to write a “guest blog” for her 30 Day series, so I thought I’d give it a try. I’m currently studying Advertising and English, and I love to write.

This summer was an experience that changed my life. 

When I look back on it, it even seems surreal sometimes. I spent 10 weeks in Greenville, South Carolina, interning at a church there and living with a host family. 

This experience was excellent in so many ways, but the most important and lasting lesson I learned was one of self-discovery.

When I say “self-discovery,” I’m not necessarily talking about learning new things about myself, though that did happen. I also mean that I was equipped with language to express things that I always knew about myself but could never articulate.

After taking personality assessments, working on projects, meeting with mentors, and spending a lot of time reflecting, I could understand things about myself that I never had before.

I now understand why I am uncomfortable in some social situations and why I collect things and why I love making lists and so many other things.

To know yourself is a huge gift, and it’s not always easy.

It’s fun to explore your talents and interests, but it’s profoundly un-fun to be confronted with shortcomings and fears. It’s uncomfortable to find out that you’re not good at something, and it can be hard to figure out what to do with that information. 

Discovering everything you can about yourself (good things and bad things) is so important because this knowledge helps you focus on your strengths and work around your weaknesses.

As I have been writing this, I have been chatting with my best friend on Facebook. She and I are similar in many ways: we’re both introverted, introspective, and we spend a lot of time thinking. We often say that we get stuck in our own heads. 

She’s studying to be a music teacher. It’s always struck me how she’s never questioned that that’s what she’s supposed to be. She knows it with every fiber of her being - she is going to teach music to students, and she LOVES IT. Just now, she used the phrase, “It’s what I’ve been programmed for.” I guess when you spend a lot of time in your own head, you get to know yourself pretty well.

I guess I would just encourage you to get to know yourself. 

There are a lot of ways to do this. 

Spend some time thinking about yourself - think about what you like and don’t like, but then try to think about WHY. 

Think about what makes your heart full and your chest swell and your eyes smile.

Talk about yourself with other people. Ask yourself questions. Ask other people questions. Don’t be afraid to discover things - good or bad.

A cheesy Shakespeare quote popped into my head when I was thinking about writing this. 

“To thine own self be true.”

If you want to be true to yourself, you have to know yourself.

Good luck! And God bless!

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I love this. (of course I'm not biased at all!!) It really fits in with this theme I've had going all month. I agree, knowing ourselves brings so much peace and direction to our lives!

I think I'll be talking more with Kara about the processes she used this summer to get to know herself better.

Thank you, Kara, for sharing your heart with us today!

Click on my button to see a list of all 31 Days posts! Thanks so much for visiting today!