Reason #2: Find the People Who Remind You Who You Are!

 

Find the People Who Remind You Who You Are

One of the greatest discoveries I made during my healing journey was that recovery is not only about medicine, treatment, or time.

It is also about people.

Not the people who tell you what you want to hear.

Not the people who rescue you from every difficulty.

But the people whose presence reminds you of your own strength.

During the months when pain became a constant companion, I met many kinds of people. Some offered sympathy. Some offered advice. Some disappeared. Some remained.

What surprised me most was that healing often arrived through unexpected conversations, silent support, simple gestures, and the unwavering presence of a few individuals who never allowed me to forget my purpose.

Adi Shankaracharya repeatedly emphasized the importance of Satsanga—the company of truth seekers.

In the Bhaja Govindam, he says:

"Satsangatve Nissangatvam"

Through noble company comes freedom from unhealthy attachments.

Through freedom from unhealthy attachments comes clarity.

Through clarity comes stability.

And through stability comes liberation.

For a long time, I understood this teaching intellectually.

During my recovery, I understood it experientially.

There were days when the body felt weak.

There were moments when emotional fatigue became heavier than physical pain.

There were times when responsibilities appeared larger than my capacity to carry them.

Yet, every time I encountered people who lived with courage, integrity, compassion, and purpose, something within me awakened.

Not because they solved my problems.

But because they reminded me of possibilities.

The world often celebrates inspiration as admiration.

Advaita sees inspiration differently.

True inspiration is recognition.

When we meet a person who embodies wisdom, kindness, resilience, or devotion, something within us responds because those qualities already exist within us.

We are not attracted to greatness because it is foreign.

We are attracted to greatness because it is familiar.

It speaks to a forgotten part of ourselves.

This was perhaps one of the most important lessons I learned.

The people who inspired me during this phase did not give me strength.

They helped me remember the strength I already possessed.

They did not give me hope.

They reminded me why hope was worth holding on to.

They did not create purpose.

They helped me reconnect with the purpose that had always guided my life.

As I reflected on this, I realized that every major transformation in my life had been influenced by people.

Teachers.

Students.

Mentors.

Family members.

Friends.

Patients.

Colleagues.

Even strangers.

Some inspired through their wisdom.

Others through their courage.

Some through their struggles.

Others through their victories.

Each became a mirror reflecting a possibility I needed to see.

Adi Shankaracharya himself was transformed through the grace of his Guru, Govindapada.

The Guru did not create enlightenment within Shankara.

The Guru revealed what was already present.

That is the true role of an inspiring person.

They do not change your essence.

They help you remember it.

Looking back at the most difficult period of my life, I now understand that one of the reasons I continued moving forward was because I was surrounded by reminders.

Reminders of service.

Reminders of purpose.

Reminders of resilience.

Reminders of love.

Reminders that my work was bigger than my temporary suffering.

And perhaps that is why the people we choose to walk with matter so much.

The human mind unconsciously absorbs the energy of its environment.

When we surround ourselves with fear, fear grows.

When we surround ourselves with complaint, complaint grows.

When we surround ourselves with purpose, purpose grows.

When we surround ourselves with truth, truth begins to reveal itself.

Today, as I continue reflecting on the reasons that helped me choose life during one of its most challenging chapters, the second reason is beautifully simple:

Find the people who remind you who you are.

Not who you were.

Not who others expect you to become.

But who you truly are beneath fear, pain, success, failure, and circumstance.

Sometimes one conversation can do what months of struggle cannot.

Sometimes one person's example can illuminate a path that seemed impossible to see.

And sometimes the greatest gift another human being can offer is not advice, but a living reminder of your own forgotten light.

Grateful to each and every soul that has touched me and genuinely wanted me to GET UP!!!

Asha