Matching your makeup!
I was reading a quote by one of my late mentors Dr. Myles Monroe, which reads; “The greatest discovery in life is self-discovery; until you find yourself, you will always be someone else. Become yourself.” I love that quote because until you discover who you are, you are going to drift around and be what everyone else wants you to be. My plea to you today is to discover who you really are.
I was talking to my daughter early one morning and the words ‘matching your makeup’ came up in our conversation because a lot of times we are doing things that don’t match our makeup, or what we were built or designed to do in our lives. That becomes very frustrating after a while. For instance, my daughter is extremely brilliant, and she was doing a task that is really wearing her down and making her weary because it doesn’t match her makeup.
To have joy and meaning in our life, our occupation needs to match or at least in some way connect with our vocation.
When your job does not align with who you are, you become frustrated, bored, and even discouraged. That unrest/uneasiness within you will remain with you until you discover what it is that you are truly destined to do or become. I personally am grateful for the unrest! If there was no restlessness or inconvenience, we would normally just stay in our comfort zones and settle for less than our best.
Many people know that unrest intimately; they feel it, they know it, they, experience it, and are not happy with their current circumstances. They know that there is more to life than what they are experiencing. That is why you must make sure that what you are doing matches what you were created to do.
There are three keys that I believe can help you begin the journey of finding what matches your makeup—self-discovery, self-manifestation, and self-release.
Self-Discovery
Self-discovery answers the question--Who am I? It speaks to your identity. We know who we are in Christ for all of those who are Christians. What is your identity? Do you know who you are? Have you accepted the unrealistic expectations of others. Once you know who you are, then you won’t be concerned with what other people think of you. Knowing who you are requires a commitment to self-exploration.
We always ask the million-dollar question; “If I was given 20 million dollars right now, today, cash free dollars; what would I do with the money?” What would you do? Would you quit your job? Would you continue with your job and do something else? What would you really do if you knew you couldn’t fail? See, that is where you are tapping into your passion and you are taking the limits off, so you can understand what God has called you to do. Until you take the limits off, you are going to be trapped in your circumstances, so you must at least get your mind to start thinking outside of the box.
Self-Discovery; finding out who you are and spend some time with yourself – alone – being quiet. Practice solitude and I always sit ‘quietly’ because there are so many voices in our lives encouraging us to be what others want you to be.
Self-Manifestation
The second key is a process called Self-Manifestation. Now that I have discovered who I am, I am feeling good, I am excited about it, I have the dream on the inside of me but now there is a self-manifestation part. Manifestation is you becoming yourself through a process which normally is uncomfortable and causing us to stretch so much so that our character is perfected.
A lot of us are so busy trying to fit in that we never stand out! God wants us to stand out to be unique, to be authentic, to be distinct; that person that only has your fingerprint. You are the only one that can do you! You need to manifest your greatness and your greatness is going to be manifested through a process.
Self-Release
The third key is the process of Self-Release. Now, I am being released to be who I am. It is just like the seed; the mango seed goes through a process. When you see the seed, you don’t see the mango tree yet because trapped inside that seed is the mango tree. It is not only the tree, but it is the fruit that hangs on that mango tree. You get a whole bunch of mangos and then it becomes an orchard. Self-release is important because I can know who I am, I can know why I am here, and I can become it by going through a process but at the end of my process although I never stopped the process, but I am always seeking to get better and better every day. When you finally discover who you are, and you decide to become it, now you must release yourself to become You!
