How corporate professionalism helped me in learning the art of self-appreciation?

It’s been a long while that I wrote something for myself. Though being a full-time content writer, busy in playing with words all day long, who people think of as a word-wizard- never short of something to write, I have, of late, fell short of words to define what I feel about my passion. I started off as a content writer & still, I am that- it’s not that my passion has faded, it is still strong and growing every day, still I sometimes feel I am not doing much for myself.
Writing every day for brands and companies- fuelling their aspirations to grow more and more through advertisements, e-mailers, marketing collaterals, etc., I have somehow felt guilty of not helping myself much with my growth journey. But is it my fault… or is it just situational? I am not the type who shifts the blame to professional or personal condition, so I take it upon myself for my mistake. I have not been much serious about my journey, passion and efforts. But through my realization, I came up with another question that is quite relevant in the modern times:

‘Why do we start identifying ourselves by our professional identities and achievements & forget who we are as an individual?’

Right from the beginning, the notion is ingrained in us to have a successful career, with a high salary package and enviable perks. And when one achieves them, he forgets what he stood for altogether. It is a brainwashing technique that clears our head off our passion and off our aspirations as a human being. We forget our own identity and succumb to being a corporate slave, whom everyone from our relatives to our friends looks upon as a testimony of success. But is that notion right??

I have once fallen prey to this notion and slowed down my efforts in the past. I believed that it’s better to slow down than to give up altogether- tired of all the failures and obstacles. And during that period, I began associating myself with my professional success all alone- from a great salary to recognitions, whatever I received. And that was where I fell a prey to the eternal rat race of competitiveness and corporate competitiveness. During that period, I turned lethargic towards my dreams, my health started suffering because all I was focusing was on my job.

It took a long time for me to get back on track- after failing at being recognized and feeling degraded by being a small cog in the whole corporate machinery. That was the time I realized that it is better to be the lone tree around the corner of a dusty road than to be a great tree in a rainforest. At least, everyone who passes appreciates you rather than passing without recognition….

And that is where I realized I need to stand out of crowd… proud and looking for my own path… always…