Stop Searching. Start Building 🧱

"We are what we pretend to be, so we must be careful about what we pretend to be." — Kurt Vonnegut

“Maybe life isn’t about finding yourself; maybe it’s about creating yourself.”

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I used to wait for some magical moment when I’d “find myself.” Like I’d round a corner, and there I’d be. Fully formed. Polished. Wise. Enlightened, maybe. Wearing linen. Drinking tea. Saying things like “I no longer chase, I attract.”

Instead, I found confusion.

Restlessness. Days that felt like detours.

I read the books. I meditated. I journaled until my pen ran dry.

Still, no lightning bolt.

No neon sign pointing toward who I was meant to be.

But maybe that’s the wrong question.

Maybe you don’t find yourself like a lost sock behind the dryer. Maybe you choose yourself. Every day. With intention.

Who you become is a byproduct of what you repeatedly do. Not what you discover in a forest, or under pressure, or in someone else’s reflection.

You’re not some relic waiting to be unearthed. You’re a blueprint in progress. And the only person who can write the next line is you.

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Ask yourself this today:

“If I wasn’t trying to ‘find’ myself—what would I start creating right now?”

Don’t overthink it. Write what comes.

Then go do one small thing that aligns with it. A sentence. A step. A shift.

Because clarity doesn’t come from waiting. It comes from movement.

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"We are what we pretend to be, so we must be careful about what we pretend to be." — Kurt Vonnegut

Every decision, every habit, every response, you’re rehearsing your future self. Be deliberate. You’re not just surviving, you’re sculpting.

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What version of yourself are you building?

Not the perfect one. Not the polished version you think others expect.

The real one.

The one that’s still clumsy, still becoming, still unfinished.

Share your “under construction” stories. What parts of yourself are you rebuilding? What have you outgrown? What are you daring to try on for size?

Let’s build in the open. No shame in progress.

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You’re not an artifact to uncover.

You’re a work-in-progress with a hand on the chisel.

The world might try to assign you a label. Family might try to hold you in place. Your past might whisper, “This is who you are.” But they’re wrong.

You are who you choose to become.

Even if it feels shaky.

Even if you’ve never seen this version before.

So keep going. Keep shaping.

And when in doubt, write your next sentence like it matters, because it does.

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Thanks for reading today’s Healing Text.

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With gratitude (and a very caffeinated heart),
— Ryan Puusaari ☕💛