Finding Myself

I’ve been searching for a long time
I’ve been searching for so long
Searching for a person who I can admire
Searching for a person who I don’t have to be ashamed of
Searching for a person I can be proud to introduce to this world
Searching for a person who can lead masses
Searching for a strong person
Searching for a free person
I’ve been searching for so long
But I keep finding the same person
The person who has enslaved herself
Been locked up in the prison of her own self
Who cannot emancipate herself from her own mental slavery
From the corruptness of society
From the trends of this world
I keep finding the person who pretends like she’s different and yet still conveniently blends in
I find the person who preaches about this utopian vision that she has
And yet who herself tries to find the easy way out
And she blames herself for that
Finally I tell this person that she doesn’t need to blame herself
She needs to truly find herself
Someone once said, “You are free and that is why you are lost”
And that is what is happening to all of us
All this time, I’d been searching for a false image
I had imprisoned myself in the darkness
I stopped and looked up
All that struggling and I realized the light was always there waiting for me
No matter what I had done, it never left me
No matter where I had gone, it was always right by me
So I raised my hands up and got down on my knees
And let the light radiate and soak into me
I let it reflect
I remembered to find myself, I needed to first turn to a more powerful source
I found my motivation
Now I’m finding my true self.

(all content Copyright National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha'is of the United States, 2000-2003, do not use without permission)