A few years ago, I wanted to write about The Power of Perspective.

About how changing my perspective somehow saved me. It might sound a little dramatic, but that’s honestly what happened. For a long time, I thought I knew myself really well. I considered myself pretty self-aware. I knew what I liked, what made me happy, what my goals were, and how I wanted to achieve them. But the moment I stepped into an uncomfortable season…

BOOM. Everything seemed to disappear in an instant.

Suddenly, I felt like a stranger to myself. Fear started creeping in. Doubts became louder. Questions about myself flooded my mind.

Am I worthy? Am I lovable? Am I actually capable?

And countless other self-doubts followed. I lost my sense of direction. And the worst part is I felt like I was losing me.

Then one day, I attended a mental health talk where someone said that feeling lost is sometimes completely normal. Because in reality, it can simply be part of discovering another version of ourselves. That was the moment I started learning that discomfort can actually be a sign that we’re growing.

And sometimes, feeling unfamiliar with ourselves is just part of getting to know ourselves more deeply.

The fearful Mia, The easily irritated Mia, The anxious Mia. And all the other versions of Mia that never really showed up while I was living comfortably. And maybe what we truly need is to welcome every emotion that comes and goes.

People say we should embrace those other versions of ourselves. So I tried.

I let them stay. I held them gently. Because maybe they don’t need to be fixed.Maybe they just need someone to sit down and listen to them.

That’s when I started shifting my perspective from “Losing Myself” to “Finding Myself.”

Many people think that finding yourself means discovering only the good parts—the strengths, the positive traits, the things we’re proud of. But more often, it’s really about acceptance. Accepting our fragile sides. Our old wounds. The parts of ourselves that aren’t always beautiful.

Because the more we discover and accept, the more deeply we begin to know who we truly are. And little by little, the scattered puzzle pieces within us start to fit together

At the end of the day, fear, anxiety, doubt, anger, and sadness aren’t emotions that need to disappear. In fact, they’re part of what makes us Human.

Because being whole doesn’t mean being perfect. Wholeness is realizing that every side of us—even the painful ones—has its own place. And every single part deserves to be acknowledged.

And eventually… Changing my perspective from “Losing” to “Finding” brought me so much peace.

I became more accepting. More grounded. More certain about how I wanted to move forward. Not because life suddenly became easier. But because I slowly realized that this is all part of the journey home. A journey back to myself.

A path that isn’t always comfortable, but is deeply meaningful.

Because maybe losing, finding, and learning to accept ourselves have always been part of what it means to be human.