We often have difficulty conquering our demons because of an identity crisis.

“Who are you?” and “Why are you here?” are two primal questions most people rarely ask themselves. Why? Because from an early age, we are told.

When we do find our way to this question, it’s usually because we have hit a brick wall. The former “who are you” usually meets with a superficial trigger response, while the latter “why are you here” with confusion and a long pause. Why? Because most of us don’t understand the essence of the questions, much less considered the answer. The two questions are a foreign concept, stumping most as if a foreign language.

Let’s rephrase and talk about it…

What is your role in life? What is your purpose? What if you had the power to define your role in life and confidently know your purpose?

What if I told you this is the divine design for life? To be original, individuals gifted with choice to personally discover their role in life and their purpose to serve humanity…

As children, we start out our journey doing just that, but along the way, we are redirected. Planned courses of study replace discovery; competition replaces camaraderie; and social constructs and expectations replace community and outreach.

What happened to the days of working together for common survival, growth, and production?

Power = the fear of losing or lacking control. The byproducts? Conformity, wielding its device of fear to be anything but “normal”.

Who defines normal? Have you ever thought about that?

Why are you conforming to a norm that was meant to create copies, instead of birthing originals? Who are the “Joneses” and why are you trying to keep up with them at every cost to your health and happiness?

I invite you to sit with me and start to explore these thoughts and questions…

I began feelings of discontentment with the path I was on in graduate school. I knew I was passionate about music and performing but I seemed to face a major challenge at mastery throughout my Master’s studies until I almost gave up that passion.

A last-ditch effort at pursuing a career in that field led me abroad. I decided to step outside my “norm” and seek a different perspective and experiences studying in another country. To say that it was life-changing and reignited a passion that I started to question is an understatement.

But that experience did even more than I knew at the time… Not only was it empowering, but it also laid a new foundation for seeking true purpose and understanding the power of choice in redirecting your path.

That one experience led to a series of choices that would lead me to rediscover and uncover my passions and soul purpose in life.

What drove me? WILLPOWER. Find your willpower, find your strength of determination that enables you to be the original you were meant to be.

May I let you in on a few things that shouldn’t be secrets?

1. It’s okay to choose you (your happiness).
2. We CAN do more than one thing in life. You DO have more skills and abilities than you realize, more than your education level and degree.

//Now, before my educators and degreed folks work their way into unneeded knots, think about it and be honest with yourselves. The truth set me free, with no slight on my experiences, degrees, or accomplishments, just perspective on reality. The TRUTH is less than half of all college graduates actually go into their field of study and a third stay. So, how do the rest acquire jobs, or survive? Other hard, soft, and transferable skill sets. //

Our educational systems teach to a limited test, then grade your abilities, worthiness, and promotion on those results. What if you’re not a great test taker? What if you suffer from anxieties? Where is the room for “different”?

These hierarchical methods and standards of measurement are often the birth of identity crisis in young minds with no reconciling, healthy answer for recovery.

Think about your first (or present) crisis of consciousness feeling low self-esteem, emotionally scattered, insecure, lost or aimless, doubt, anxiety, depression…how about not feeling a sense of purpose or understanding your value? Where did it come from? Did it put you on a path that has been slowly snuffing out your soul?

Search your heart, your mind… Are you actually doing what you love to do? Be honest with yourself. If not, what are you going to do about it?

Your true purpose, your soul purpose, lies in the answers to these questions, which in turn will illuminate your passions and solve your identity crisis and demons.

The choice is yours. Find your life-giving passion(s) and you will have the key and ability to define your path. Just breathe…