I read the book by James Michener, “The Fires of Spring” when I was quite young. It and the below  paragraph stayed with me and is still pasted on my wall to remind me of my “finding myself”.  I share this with you now, to consider the words written by a renowned writer long ago.

The Fires of Spring  2015-100

For this is the journey that men make; to find themselves. If they fail in this, it doesn’t matter much what else they find. Money, position, fame, many loves, revenge – – – are all of little consequence, and when the tickets are collected at the end of the ride, they are tossed into the bin marked failure.

BUT, if a man happens to find himself — if he knows what he can be depended upon to do, the limits of his courage, the many positions from which he will no longer retreat, the degree to which he can surrender his inner life to some woman, the secret reservoirs of his determination, the extent of his dedication, the depth of his feelings for beauty, his honest and unpostured goals — then he has found a mansion which he can inhabit with dignity all the days of his life…………………………………………………………..

James Michener – The Fires of Spring