We often want to be a lot of things in life. As kids we want to be firefighters or astronauts or teachers or scientists. As adults we want to be travelers or entrepreneurs or musicians or artists. But there is one thing we always need to be.
Losing Myself
If you follow my blog, you know I’ve had a relationship that wreaked havoc on my life. It did a number on my relationships, my career, and my self esteem.
All told it was hard to recover. Although I knew what I stood for, I had forgotten who I was. I struggled to connect with people and excel. I tried so hard to read and learn, to get back on track so I could get back to where I was.
And to some degree I did. In pockets I would have great successes, but they would be short-lived. Yes, they moved me forward to help me springboard to the next thing, but something was still keeping me from success.
Finding Myself
I began to realize that all the relationship tricks in the book don’t work if it’s not really me. When you become who you think people want you to be, it doesn’t last. Being someone you’re not takes work, and it if it’s not someone you enjoy being, it wears you down to keep it up.
Which is when I started to make a change. I decided, despite the costs – whatever they may be, to be my authentic self. Bear in mind this wasn’t a gigantic overnight transformation. It was something that happened over time where I began to speak my mind more and be more outgoing and more willing to take chances to make others feel more excited about who they were even if it could end up making me feel foolish.
It wasn’t always easy; digging out of a bad place can leave you vulnerable. Sometimes it’s hard to stand up to help someone else while something else keeps knocking you down. But I began to realize that life was more enjoyable being myself and taking the chances than being safe and being someone I wasn’t. Sometimes you simply have to be safe to make it through the storm, but once the sun comes out, you have to get out there and be who you really are.
Being Yourself
Find yourself. Be yourself. If the people that you hang out with don’t appreciate the real you, find the people that do. Sometimes it’s not that we don’t fit in, it’s just that we haven’t found the people we fit in with.
But continue to be yourself. Continue to share your true self with the world. Because there’s only one you out there. Make your mark on the world with who you are. It’s your way to make the world better.
