The Cost of Losing Yourself

Every one of us holds various roles that make up parts of our identity. For example, parent, daughter, spouse, partner, friend, employee, CEO and the list goes on. It can be easy to overidentify with a given role. When I became a mother, I lost so much of myself in that role to the point where many of the aspects of who I am slowly fell away. In romantic relationships I’ve learned that I can be overaccommodating at the expense of abandoning parts of myself.

I know for certain that I am so much more than a mother and partner. I’m learning to recognize when I feel myself slipping away, when self-abandonment is just beginning and I’m able to gather my “selves” together and move forward whole and integrated. This is a practice though, and it’s one that I haven’t mastered just yet. Perhaps mastery is not the goal though. Perhaps the goal is to create more intention around moving through life as the truest, most authentic version of myself. Since I’ve begun this practice I’ve found that I feel more alive, I feel more joy, I feel more connected. I simply FEEL more!

I share this with you as a reminder that it is your birthright to feel love,  joy, connection, contentment, and belonging. I once heard someone say that you are as unique as your fingerprint, and this means that you have something to offer the world that nobody else can. So, embrace all of yourself knowing that you are worthy and you are enough just as you are!