BB Ep 74: Find Your True Self and Get Back to You with Chrystal Evans Hurst

Do you remember dreaming about what your first job would be after college? Maybe you pictured yourself putting on business clothes every day, sitting in creative brainstorming meetings and-arguably the best part when you're a broke college student-finally getting an adult paycheck. I know I sure did. Unfortunately, that wasn't what happened-not even close. My first job after graduating was as an advertising coordinator at a local newspaper in Nashville, TN. I was so excited about this position. From the name alone, I thought it sounded perfect for me. I envisioned myself working across every department and helping them come up with creative ways to market their messages. Well, it wasn't long before my little fantasy was crushed. Turns out that "advertising coordinator" was really just a fancy title for data entry. I spent my days inputting data into a decades-old software program that crashed every few hours. Every day, I walked into a gray cinder block building with gray walls, gray ceilings, gray cubicles and fluorescent lights. I died a little inside every day I worked there. It was a mind-numbing, miserable job for someone like me-creative, energetic and a people-person. But the problem wasn't only that the job made me miserable. I couldn't be myself. I wasn't doing something I was good at. I wasn't in a position that made me come alive, gave me energy, or brought me joy. I wasn't even using my strengths or talents. I wasn't being me. Related: Recognizing Your Gifts Have you ever felt that way? Have you ever been in situations, gone through seasons, or even spent years feeling like you lost yourself? Feeling like you didn't even recognize who you were anymore? I meet so many women who feel like they've gotten lost in motherhood, their careers or in other people's expectations of them. That last one-other people's expectations-reminds me of a fascinating book called The Top Five Regrets of the Dying by Bronnie Ware. Bronnie spent years working in palliative care. During her time caring for the terminally ill, Bronnie wrote a blog that later became a book about the most common regrets of the people she cared for. The number one regret was having worked too much. But the second one really surprised me. It was not having lived a life that was true to themselves. What Bronnie learned is so important. It's an opportunity for us to adjust our perspective and start making choices today that will help us avoid that same regret. Because a life well-lived is one where we live as our truest selves. Women often tell me they've lived for other people for so long they don't even know what they want anymore. Even worse, they don't even know who they are anymore. If this is you today, I want to encourage you: You don't have to stay there and wonder who you are or where "the real you" went. I want to give you five questions you can ask yourself that will help you get back to you. Consider them road signs to point you in the right direction. Related: Push Forward and Get Unstuck Five Questions to Help You Discover Your True Self 1. What do you want? Don't ask yourself what your spouse wants, what your kids need, or what all your friends think you should do. Ask yourself what you want. That's a tough question to answer because we so often consider our own desires to be selfish. But the truth is that the desires of your heart are not bad things. They are God things. In fact, Jesus asked this same question. A blind man once approached Jesus asking for mercy. Jesus responded by asking him, "What do you want me to do for you?" (Luke 18:41 NIV). Don't you think Jesus knew what this blind man wanted? Jesus didn't need the blind man to tell him, but I believe Jesus wanted to draw out those desires in him. And He wants to do the same for you.  2.Where do you want to be? If you don't know where you're going, you're never going to get there. That's why...