Last week I shouted, "Don't die before discovering yourself" and in this article I deal with what it takes to be able to discover yourself. The very first step towards discovering yourself is a painful one that many people choose not to experience. It is a conscious commitment towards facing the challenges of life even those that pose danger to your life.

In other words. one has to expose and surrender himself/herself to the realities on the way towards realising your dreams, fulfilling your vision, or generally striving to find your way in life. You need to go through the valley of the shadow of death when it beckons or emerges in your path because that will bring out what is inside you.

You will be able to know whether fire burns you or not, if it does burn you, what comes out as the products, and whether or not that can be of any use.

By going through the fire you will no longer live with illusions or imaginations regarding your ability to resist fire but will be pretty clear that for example, you are like dry grass when thrown into a burning furnace. Oh yes, or come to discover that you are like real gold that actually survives fire and comes out more pure.

Many of us today shudder to imagine finding a fire on the blind corner of the highway and do all sorts of things to evade the challenge, however, in the process, preferring to avoid discovering their character, strength and material that makes them.

I see many of us today prefer the easier road. The result is going all the way probably into the grave without any idea of what makes you, or the material that constitutes your inward person. Are you made of plastic, paper, wood, steel, gold, diamonds or nothing? You can only know when exposed to tests that produce results.

Many young Asians are battling to establish themselves as future leaders, business owners, academics and voices of authority in our society. Desiring to achieve such levels will certainly face a litany and variety of obstacles on the way, some that really can be likened to fire or the valley of the shadow of death.

Those that take the obstacles or challenges head on end up with the benefit of knowing their resistance levels, strengths, weaknesses as well as deeper comprehension of challenges ahead.
After such experiences, one starts to sober and calm down and do either of two key things. The first is you grow in strength and confidence and that is when having survived the storm or the fire.
Even if the devil sends a million people to try and discourage or tell you that you are hopeless or a failure, you will not be bothered because you know yourself.

The second possible result is when the storm or the fire exposes your deficiencies or your fears, frailties and breaking point is being put in a good position from which to work towards improvement or restrategise.

I love this one! Contrary to what many of us do - trying to avoid the storm or the fire - coming out of it bruised and educated about your shortcomings is a major step in moving forward. You would have discovered yourself - that you are incapable, or unequal to the challenge or even that you are at the wrong place pursuing the wrong things.

That is surely better than hopping all the way towards nowhere because the inevitable result would be dying without discovering yourself, the twin brother or dying without succeeding.
Going through the test of your character, your vision, dreams even in the sternest of ways helps you stand at a higher level for possibly transforming from the abstract form or the supposed to the real thing.

For example, a dream or a vision is just mere hallucination if it ends like that, without being developed or transformed into a philosophy, an action plan or an implemented project.
Another way to discover yourself is by deliberately and diligently searching to discover your purpose in life.

In other words, get to know what it is, or what they are, those things your creator made, or makes to be accomplished by you in your lifetime. They are there! Indeed, each and every person on this earth has at least a purpose for living but it is totally another thing whether or not you are aware of it.

Your purpose for living is linked to your abilities, your character and the things constituting your inner person. Let me put more light on the issue of purpose for living. It is true that God in many instances gives his people purposes for living upon creation. But still the point remains that even in that case, you would still need to discover that purpose because it is a part of you, it points and leads to your destiny.

It is also a fact that as one grows and develops along the path of life there is the setting down of purpose happening at various stages and in some cases in response to your development, education, achievement and even failure.

As you read this article now you may have in the past week had your purpose for life reshaped and decided by certain factors and circumstances.

You may have all along lived under an illusion of regarding yourself as an entrepreneur but a series of failures when put under the test have revealed you are not one but something else, which brings the setting down of a new purpose in your life. Find out or know what your purpose in life is at any stage of your life. That is key in discovering yourself before the grave beckons. 

About the author:
Pascal Nyasha is a leadership expert, management consultant, motivational and conference speaker. He is an author of five books on the subjects of leadership, motivation and success. Pascal is a syndicated columnist with over 200 articles published across Africa. An award winning public speaker, Pascal is the founder of Pascal Nyasha Seminars, a training and development organisation focusing on leadership development, motivational speaking and capacity building for organisations of all shapes, sizes and focuses

The SME Times Guest Author can be contacted at pascalnyasha@gmail.com.