How does traveling help in building our identity?
What are identities?
If you ever had this inevitable question of what is your identity, I would like to share some of my personal perspectives. When we were born, our mind is like a blank canvas and all of our knowledge and perspectives are constantly in the process of learning from our environment. You see, we were never truly given an identity but we became who we are today because of our surrounded friends, family, and living environment. It is at this moment I came to understand that a person has more than a singular identity. To give you an example, person A can be a “Father, Footballer, Doctor, Etc.” and there are no limitations to one’s identity. We are capable to become anything when we allow ourselves to own our consciousness by breaking the barrier of society’s limited perspectives of our identity.
Societies limited perspectives
At many times, we allow our identity to be limited by the societies’ expectations and social norms. From a very young age, we were taught to surrender to the generic norms that if we were born in a certain background or geographical location, we are bound with the generic identity that has been passed down from centuries and has been widely perceived and accepted by the majority population. However, to truly become limitless, we must break the bound of our pre-conceptual perspective about our identities.
Consciously designing our identity
It is only when we realize we can re-design our identities to whatever that aligns with our most authentic reflection instead of merely being in a state unconscious adaptation, we can become anything we want to be. To begin, we must start by making a statement to ourselves and to the world that it is acceptable to unique as we are born to be different from each human being right from the strand of our DNA.
Taking the first step
It is simple but never easy taking the first step. I remember feeling so uneasy and nervous when I first decided to step out of my comfort zone through traveling. The hardest challenge to me was starting the first conversation because of my inexperience of being in a multicultural environment. It started from a single conversation to learning about such a diverse perspective from people all around the world. It was then I learned about the limitless possibility of what I can become. It was at that moment onwards I decided that my life is an adventure and I will stop at no cost to continue my journey of building the greatest reflection of my identity. I realize that I can never discover who I am if I just sit home or being in a singularity state of routine.
Learning about myself
It was through traveling and constantly being in a new environment that gave me the chance to learn about strengths. I have discovered many of my hidden strengths that have helped me to become the person I am today. I am grateful to say that because of my passion for growth and consciously building and finding my identity it gave me so much clarity about my present and future. If we never took the first step, we never truly live our life to the fullest potential. The end result would be settling for a mediocre life living for someone else’s purpose and dream.
Learning about the unknown
The best part about stepping out of our comfort zone during travels is meeting people and learning that everyone has their own unique stories that make their life a spectacular journey. I remember meeting old people in their 70’s and young graduates making this the trip of their life to cycle/taking a motorbike from the border near china all the way to the south of Asia within a year. I remember meeting digital nomads that taught me what is it like to work remotely while earning more than an office job. I remember the genuine friends that I’ve made during my travels and some of these people will always be part of my life. These are some of the experiences that gave me new perspectives to venture out to learn who am I and how would I like my life story to be. There is so much more to share and learn because the journey is an adventure.
Taking the leap of faith
I begin by opening my heart to new experiences. It was then I realize that the more I indulge myself in new environments, the more I learn about what makes me “myself” by being able to experience, feel and consciously selecting my identity and expression that makes me feel most connected. In this stage, you will start to question every thought, perspective, and limitations given by society because you realize that the limitations only exist until some surpass it. In previous times, people used to believe that the best record for a 100m run was 4 minutes until someone chooses to break the limits. It was only then everyone else start to believe that the race can be completed under 4 minutes.
Learning to accept our identity
When we come back from our travels/journey of growth, we are definitely empowered by the transformative experience. We will start to grow into accepting the new additions to our identities. Sometimes, people around us will not understand how did such rapid changes occurred and some might have a negative preconception because of the inability to process the dynamic of self-growth. It is completely normal and the most important part of this process is self-acceptance. This process acts as a filter for the right people to stay and come into our life with open arms and you will find those who are only there for one part of you will start fading away.
Respond with kindness with a blend of confidence
If you are a personal growth enthusiast, you understand that it is perfectly normal for people to change when going through the process of growth. To truly be confident in our newfound additional identity/growth, we should write down how this new identity/growth has better us a person and why we choose it. I learned that it is only when we are able to explain to others,
we truly know how it better our lives. We should always treat others with kindness and compassion while sharing about such a drastic change. The best thing I learned throughout my journey is finding the right people who truly belong in my life while I am unfolding into the most authentic reflection of myself.
Inspirational Quote
As a human being, learning and growth is constantly dynamic throughout our lifetime because a person who never travels/grows only understands a page of the entire book.
