Reinventing Myself

Most of my life I have spent searching for peace and happiness. This included reinventing myself many, many times with new looks, careers, friends, partners, locations, etc. Mostly I was repeating childhood beliefs and randomly exploring new ideas. Even though I was always working on the internal self, my focus was external. I wanted to see results because I didn't trust or know myself.

After ending my depression and still not happy, I read about a couple of people during WWII in concentration camps. One person described herself as being happy no matter what the circumstances, and the other person found meaning in the horror he witnessed and experienced. Then a realization hit me! Deep, lasting happiness comes from within and this understanding became my first important step towards inner peace.

I’ve since recognized that the path to happiness starts with knowing, accepting and loving myself. This self-love is not the vain, selfish, egotistical kind, but the type of love that provides compassion and understanding as in, “Love your neighbor as yourself.” Once I discovered who I was, I then could see my talents and destiny. Life became simple, not perfect or without frustrations, but comprehensive with a wonderful feeling of great joy and inner peace.