You don’t need to escape to find out who you are. Of course that goes against the common perception these days.
For years and years we’ve seemed to be sold into this idea that to find ourselves we need to go out and explore what we don’t know yet. “I just need to go find myself,” someone would say as they walk out on their life and their commitments.
We need to move west, or move out of our parents’ house, or just go wild and live the rebellious life we’ve wanted to. Basically the message is that to find ourself we need to go escape.
In a sense, I think this argument is true. If you escape your world just to go “find yourself” then you will actually have already found out a bit about who you are. You are an escapist. That’s right. You can join the mass amount of people in the world who look for easy-way-outs and simple answers.
Of course, the world is already full of these people. That’s why we’re led to believe in this method of “finding ourselves.” There is a large group of people who think this escaping is a fair way of discovering identity.
Just think quickly, though. Do you want to be like most people? We live in a world full of people who escape marriages, jobs, churches, commitments, and all other aspects of life just because difficulty or boredom has come in. That’s weak. It’s not a great reason to leave; it’s a convenient one.
Discovering our identity is important. Figuring out how we work in this crazy world is a crucial part of life. However, you don’t need to escape to find out. In fact, sometimes you may dig deeper into your character and who you are if you stay right where you are and take things in. Doesn’t mean you have to stay there forever, but you just may find a bit more about who you are that way than you would if you tried escaping right away.