A wise old man once said that it takes  70 years to learn how to live your life.

Its a darn shame that so many people check out of this life before they even reach that point.  When I was a kid I couldn’t wait until I was a teenager.   When I was in my teens I was anxious to be 25.  When I was 25 I thought turning 30 would officially make me a grown man. No I’m 39 and I’m just wise enough to know I have a long way to go.

So does that mean most of us are just wandering along without a clue?  Don’t get mad at me for saying this but yeah.  Most people don’t have a clue about who they are or why they’re here.  That’s not a bad thing though.  Once you realize that there is something important that you don’t know, the next logical step is to go seek out the knowledge and learn it.  But living in a world of illusion and distraction has us identifying with how much money we have, our job, the appearances we keep up and other crap we see on TV.

You are not your house, your car, your bank account or your shadow.  And in the words of that sage India Arie “You are not your hair or your skin.  You are the soul that lives within”.  That same old wise man at the beginning of this post also said “Acquire knowledge to benefit yourself and those you care about. The first knowledge to go after is the knowledge of self.”

Know Thy Self

Elijah  Muhammad was really on to something. Finding your niche, your arena to operate in, your purpose begins with knowledge.  Find out all you can about you & why you are the way you are.  Then as you move through life you can based act on what you learn.  Sometimes making right choices & sometimes making mistakes but learning how to properly apply what you know That’s wisdom. It takes time & sometimes is unpleasant but its part of the process.  That’s the only way to truly understand the true value of the gift of this life and all the resources at your fingertips.  Keep living & keep your senses alert & you’ll grow in understanding.

Finding your niche and realizing what your purpose is takes time.  Faith, passion and discipline are critical ingredients you’ll need to navigate your way through to the goal.  Don’t try to march to the beat of someone else’ drum.  And before you go skipping from niche to niche or identity to identity explore an inch wide and a mile deep.