Breaking Through Your Own Barriers

Chapter One: Finding yourself

Being happy is something everyone wants, but not everyone gets. Happiness's definition is different to everyone. One might think happiness is having a lot of money, and another person might think happiness is being with your loved ones with out material things. The list is endless honestly. But one thing I've learned about finding yourself, is that when you do, you are happy and content.
Finding yourself is definitely a challenge because sometimes you feel that you are so lost that you cannot be found and that you will never understand who you are.
When you are filled with this emotion, realize that the mind is everything. What you think is what you become. Remember that there is only one you, and no one can find you except for ÿöü.
Now, grab a notebook and a pen. Think about your time you've spent on this earth. What has made you happy, what you love to do, who you love to be around. Write it down under the word "enjoy". After you have completed this, now think about the things that you don't like, the things that have brought you to tears, the people that have hurt you, the music you absolutely cannot stand to hear. Write it down under "dislike". Now, surround yourself with what you enjoy only. Cut out what brings you bad energy.
Finding a happy place is a very important and soothing step in finding your inner self. Your happy place can be anywhere, just a place where you are alone and have space to think and makes you happy. Whether it be your bed, your backyard, the woods, or even in your mind. Go to your happy place and talk about what has been good about that day. Your happy place is like your therapist, you can pour your feelings out and it's like someone is listening.
Writing is very important also, writing is something some people really enjoy and others don't. When you are neck deep in your thoughts, grab a notebook and write everything that is going on in your mind, everything you are thinking about, seeing. Do not leave anything out, because if you are feeling like this again you can look back and realize you got through it. Writing your feelings out is very satisfying because it is right there on paper, forever in ink.
Traveling played a very big part in my journey to finding myself. I would get such bad anxiety because I would think about how I am trapped in the town that I live in with the people that made me unhappy. I often found myself looking at the negative rather than the positive.. Traveling calmed my anxiety because I realized and experienced that there was a world and culture outside of my own. I don't mean that to travel you have to go to another country or state, you could simply go to another city or town and just explore. Looking at the details, the cracks and flowers in the cement, the architecture, the people and their style, the way the town is set up.
Reading books is very helpful because when you are reading, you imagine the scene, voice tone, characters, everything differently from the author, editor, and the other readers perspective. Think about it, the author gives you characters names, a scenario, and a back story and you get to let your mind run wild with assumptions and images. You get to create a life or a story just by reading someone else's words.
So surround yourself with good people, write a lot, focus on your breathing, read, travel, and have fun.