Identity, what encompasses who we are as people, it’s fluid and ever changing around each of us all the time based on life events and our individual journeys as humans. Finding a true and stable identity is a path we all must take in one way or another, whether we know we are doing so or not.

As high school students, we are constantly dealing with internal struggles that bring our personal identity into question. Something as literal as finding a career path or choosing a college to attend brings our identity’s development to the table, as do personal, internal aspects of our lives such as our interpersonal relationships with others.

Over the last few years of my life, identity as a whole has been a struggle for myself and individuals around me. Discovering who we are and where we feel we stand as an aspect of this world are very difficult tasks and take real time to figure out. Relationships and personal hardships make this time of life even harder, I’m sure we’ve all questioned our place in the world at least once and I would bet that relationships with people around us could be labeled a key component in that difficulty.

But, with struggle comes triumph and with triumph comes reward, this is a basic mental strategy for motivation. Think of the struggles, internal or external in our lives as the means to an end, or reward. Being dedicated to your own personal self enlightenment is a hard road to walk when life seems so confusing and finding your place in this world seems so fruitless, but it is really worth it.

As a society and more specifically, an age demographic, young adults and teens get so caught up in our own lives and what’s coming next that we fail to take a step back and realize that the present is staring us right in the face. Everything may not be perfect, but the goals we have set throughout our lives are being achieved right before us, and we decide to dwell on the past failures and worry ourselves sick with what the future may hold.

Take pride in yourself, that to me is the first step to self actualization and fulfillment.

Once we begin to give ourselves credit for the things we have done rather than what we haven’t or what we did wrong, we will be a much happier people in the grand scheme of things.

Nothing in life is guaranteed, but you can put forth the effort to set yourself up for success both internally and externally. Effort and perseverance, these are the aspects of a truly successful person.

It doesn’t matter if you are a high school senior looking to your college career and life ahead or a freshman just trying to find what makes you happy in life, putting forward your best possible ability to do those things are really what matter, nobody can truly put  someone down for doing their best, no matter what that may be for them.

Whether your goals are emotional or physical, just remember to take a step outside of your own perspective sometimes, realize that the things you’re stressed about now and the worries of today are what will allow you to reap the benefits of tomorrow and to always seek out new sources or knowledge and understanding of the world around you.

This is no concrete guide to success and self understanding, but simply a personal perspective on the many worries of myself and others my age today. I truly hope that this may help someone out there to sleep a little easier or smile a little brighter as life is a personal journey we all must endure, so make it as good as you can.