One night in Costa Rica, my thoughts were everywhere as I swung back and forth in my hammock. I reflected on my day and how I wished I had a few more days at the lovely bungalow at Rancho Margot. My thoughts went from what I did that day, when will I revisit lovely Costa Rica, my love life, my career, family, and my future. My thoughts started racing so much that I placed them on paper, and I now I want to share them with you…

Sometimes in life we tend to go searching for things or people to fill a void; however, filling our void with the wrong things or people can be toxic. One’s void will only be filled when there is an understanding of oneself, which is very important.

It’s important to search within yourself so you can understand and know YOU better. When you are able to search within yourself, you get to know your fears, your likes, dislikes, your tolerance level, strengths, weaknesses, desires and a lot more.

Using myself as a example, at one point in my life I was trying to fill a void through other people, but I was finding myself bringing toxic energy into my life. Therefore, I started focusing on me and searching within myself to figure out what really drives me. I started stepping outside of my comfort zone in order to find what I was missing. At one point, I thought I needed love and support from a lover, but the true desire was more of self- love and respect for myself.

Being able to find exactly what is missing can come from doing more things one enjoys or aiming towards one’s goals. When I personally started searching within myself and doing more things that dealt with traveling, exercise, writing, teaching, and helping others develop in areas he or she desires, I started to fill my glass. You know, the glass people always try to fill so they can have a glass to pour from. You know like the quote, “you can’t pour from an empty glass.” I do believe everything takes time. When it comes to searching within and understanding one self, it takes as much patience as it would when you’re trying to accomplish a goal or getting to know someone new.

Having patience requires anyone to continue to learn and understand themselves and the things around them. Searching within will not just give a better understanding of self, but it will drive the self-love that’s WITHIN!