Finding yourself

A while ago, back in 2003, I was going through some tough times... problems with my ex girlfriend, got laid off from my job and just not happy with the direction my life was going. I decided through all of my camping and hiking equipment hoped into my 4x4 and drove across America.
I decided that in order to find myself.. I needed to be by myself with no one to escape to. If you are with someone.. you would tend to escape yourself through that other person... so I figured I needed to corner myself and confront myself and see what I had to say about myself.
A couple of things I started to do. I asked myself some honest questions. I started from a clean slate and decided that when I get back I would begin life again, sort of a reborn era of Danny. I had to find solitude, away from humans, media, noise and be there in the rawness of nature. That is where you can find yourself, at least myself. There is no hiding from yourself.... you are who you are and that is it. You decide what direction you should take from this point. You have the will power and choice to do what you want to do and where you want to go and only you have that responsibility. No one else will do it for you. You live your life and no one else. It matters to you and no one else. You make that choice. Forget what others thinks about you.. what matter is what you think about yourself. No one knows you better then yourself. You can't satisfies everyone. "He who trims himself to suit everyone will soon whittle himself away." - Raymond Hull


A friend of mine told me the following quote... which I love:
God doesn't give you the people you want, He gives you the people you NEED. To help you, to hurt you, to leave you, to love you and to make you into the person you were meant to be.

• Love many, but trust few; always paddle your own canoe.
• You're never as bad or as good as people say.
• Resist the urge to feel like you're the only one going through this:

  All my life I had been looking for something, and everywhere I turned someone tried to tell me what it was. I accepted their answers too, though they were often in contradiction and even self-contradictory. I was naive. I was looking for myself and asking everyone except myself questions which I, and only I, could answer. It took me a long time and much painful boomeranging of my expectations to achieve a realization everyone else appears to have been born with: that I am nobody but myself. ~ Ralph Ellison, "Invisible Man"

• Be yourself and make sure no one influences who you are. It will make finding yourself even harder since people are influencing who you think you are.
• Don't be afraid to sleep on it. There's no hurry in making decisions, and you'll be more likely to make good ones if your mind is calm and rested.
• Be forgiving and learn to let go

Take care