It’s OK to be yourself
How many times have you stopped yourself from saying things that you wanted to say worrying that what impression would it make of you? Would you appear silly, bossy, stupid or arrogant? When was the last morning when you woke up and felt excited about doing what you actually wanted to do rather than what you had to do? When was the last time you had the thought that you didn’t need caffeine to keep you going throughout the day?
“About all you can do in life is be who you are. Some people will love you for you. Most will love you for what you can do for them, and some won’t like you at all.”
— Rita Mae Brown
I wonder at times what in the world “being yourself” means? Why is it so important? I mean, I am happy with my life the way it is. Things we do daily is just because this is our routine and that’s the way everyone is expected to do it, right?
Recently, I quit my job and decided to just give myself a lot of time to explore what I “actually” want to do… taking out time for things that make me happy and keep me going! Like all the changes, this one wasn’t easy, too…I mean, suddenly your fight with having some free time for yourself stops and you realize that 24hrs are enough for a day! In this time, I realized that sometimes doing nothing is fun, sitting on the porch, sipping coffee and reading a book can be refreshing too! Most important of all, I accepted my life & it’s situations the way it is and that brought so much internal peace (pulling off all mental stress) that life became meaningful again. This is when I learned what “being yourself” meant.
It’s not about doing what you want to do, it’s not about changing yourself, it’s about bringing peace within yourself and accepting life for the way it is..to make it better!
“Life goes too fast, the best way to make sure you are living it is to stop for a while, analyze things once and then decide what’s best.”
It’s OK to be unsure
“I’m not sure about what I am doing in life. I feel I am stuck and there is no easy way to get out of it.” Or “Where am I and what am I doing?” or “I don’t know the heck is going on in my life”. At some or the other point, we all get stuck in life and we ask ourselves the very same questions.
We all make plans for our life and for some of us life doesn’t always turn out to be the way we wanted it to be. But that doesn’t mean we are unfortunate or unlucky. It’s just that we made wrong plans for ourselves and probably that wasn’t something we should have done.
Sometimes, it’s fine to just go with the flow and enjoy whatever is coming up on the way, even if you are not sure about it.
“It’s good to go with your gut instincts in life. You just should. Even if it doesn’t work out, something good will come out of it.”
— Karen Gillan
It’s OK to have a setback in life
“Making mistakes, taking wrong judgments, unable to match expectations, having no willpower or succumbing under pressure”. We’ve all hit that bump on the road. Don’t be too hard on yourself or rush into the process of “being okay”. It’s ok that not everything is OKAY in your life all the time.
Setbacks are just reminders that something is not right. You need to slow things down and re-think.
Take the responsibility for the setback, let go of the things and start planning -what’s next? Bounce back with a fresh plan and a whole new mindset. You never know, you might be thankful for it later!
“In the middle of every difficulty lies opportunity.”
— Albert Einstein
It’s OK to be just another person in the crowd
In this age of competition, we constantly have the need to prove ourselves at every point to stay in the race. When we see people around us succeeding beyond expectations or read an inspiring article of an old man’s conquests, we also think that maybe we should also do something that would give us the same amount of success and fame.
Instead of trying to be Steve Jobs or Mark Zuckerberg, why not try to be yourself. It’s ok to be a person who can make a difference to self, family, career and friends. It’s not about doubting abilities or being less ambitious, it’s about your priorities and expectations from life. Nothing comes easy. For everything you get in life you lose a thing, too. Is it really worth putting your dreams to rest just to make a difference in the world, like others? Think about it.
“Have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow know what you truly want to become.”
— Steve Jobs
It’s OK to choose an easy way
We always have people around us to tell that running away from your problems is not the way to deal. There is an inner voice too, that always pushes us to believe that if there is a problem, there is a solution and we need to find that. I agree with this most of the time but I also believe that in actual world when going gets tougher, no matter how hard you try to solve all your problems, you just can’t. The harder you try the more you’ll forget to live.
Sometimes choosing an easy option is the best way to make correct decisions. It’s ok to escape from problems for a while or let the problem just be. Not everything in life can be resolved…or I would rather say, not everything in life should be resolved. Why choose difficult way always, when probably an easy option might help you be happy?
“The best prize that life offers, is the chance to work hard at work worth doing.”
— Teddy Roosevelt
It’s OK to be wanting attention
“She’s only doing it to get noticed”, “He is only telling that sob story for attention”, “What are they gonna think of all this now?”. Heard or said things like these? I know I have. Most of the times seeking attention is considered as an immature thing and less respectful. Why? Because we judge that way only. We don’t take a minute to even think that the person might need some help. Why is it so shameful to be wanting attention? What I know is, that this is our biggest insecurity — we want all the attention yet we fear the same.
I always want people to notice when I wear a new dress, I want my closest person to listen to my painful stories and understand me, I want my man to not hesitate to show his pain either. A little attention makes you feel special in several ways. Though, this doesn’t mean that whatever you do is just for attention, that’s WRONG!
At times, attention might be the only thing needed by you or your closed ones. Don’t be scared to be judged, let people say what they want to, count on yourself and your loved ones…nothing of this would matter then!
“It took me a long time not to judge myself through someone else’s eyes.”
— Sally Field
You deserve to feel everything to know yourself better, to love yourself and to be yourself. Once you start loving yourself, life becomes simpler and lighter and happy…just like that!
This is one of my favorite quote and I believe it would give a perfect meaning to the entire article.
“One day your life will flash before your eyes. Make sure it’s worth watching.”
— Gerard Way
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