What We All Want To Be When We Grow Up - A Lesson From Our Younger Self

Everyone wants to be someone.

We all want a title.

A status.

A distinction.

Something to give our existence meaning.

As a child, we are asked what we want to be when we grow up.

We are given the impression that we are not yet enough and must long for careers and titles in order to feel whole.

And so we follow this thread, hoping it will pull our life into meaning.

We all have something to contribute, something to work towards, something to be passionate about.

But in the process of turning these somethings into goals and careers, it is important that we maintain separation between them and our sense of life and self-worth.

If we search for ourselves entirely through our career goals, we will never be satisfied with who we find because career goals never end.

Instead, we must remember that we are all intrinsically worth as much as what we decide we are worth.

Every human is an individual with value and wonder in their spirit, and no career achievement, or lack there of, can determine otherwise.

When we are young, we should be asked what we want to DO when we are older, now who we want to BE.

For who we are is who we are, with or without career achievements.

The moments of our childhood are not worth less than the moments of our adulthood just because we did not yet have a career or status.

Our ability to create meaning and enjoy our self is often the strongest as a child, we must remember that we can continue to carry this with us all through life, independent of our careers and statuses.

When we acknowledge our intrinsic value, regardless of status, we become like a tree, grounded and full of life.

And our career accomplishments become like fruit growing from our limbs, providing nutrients for the world.

But as the seasons change and the fruit comes and goes, we can continue to remain as the tree, firmly rooted in abundance.

Our careers and accomplishments are certainly major parts of our lives that we should appreciate and take pride in, but if you neglect to embrace your self-worth and sense of life outside of them, you have missed the point.