How tough is it to be REAL?

Is it really difficult, is what I ask myself often! I always thought to be "REAL" was the easiest thing than being "FAKE" or "UNREAL". If it's really tough to be real, then we are all actors, performers and entertainers. Why do we then have a handful known in the industry that’s most popular; Cinema.

Until my 8th grade, I always hesitated in asking questions in class even when in doubt. I was living in fear of what most kids of my age then did; fear of being mocked down in class. None of us wants to make a fool of ourselves in public. We want to be at our best, however, what we fail to believe is overcoming our fear gets us where we belong.

My grades were appalling in History in 7th Grade that led to a whole lot of disappointment to my parents and of course myself. This led to series of health excuses to avoid writing the history paper. After scoring miserably in the finals, I decided to develop attention and respect towards my history teacher because I wanted to believe as the words of a Sanskrit teacher resonated every time. Those words changed my thought process as I realised I have disliked my history teacher the most that year.

“In order to build interest in any subject, one must start to respect the Guru first”.

As my respect towards the teacher and attention towards the subject grew, I had more questions to ask in the class but the peer pressure forced me to stay quiet. My friends didn’t want the class to get boring, they didn’t want the teacher to ask them questions so I played the role of a good friend. I was also afraid of losing them and most importantly didn’t want them to laugh at me for asking a question they may know the answer for.

However, that habit changed. Again, words of another teacher resonated.

“Never be shy to ask, it’s fine to make a fool of yourself now than being a fool for life; learning is important”.

That statement gave me the confidence and even got me into situations that I feared the most. But after a while, it became a habit. I was a question bank. I felt real, I felt normal and felt more confident in myself. I had answers to lot many things; I could write my exams and score relatively better. What a feeling!

Asking questions became a habit coz’ everything for me was then 5 W’s and an H. On a personal front too I became more curious about things that happened around. I knew there was either black or white; shades of grey didn’t exist for me. I was being too real to a point of losing people. What I didn’t lose amidst this journey is, BEING REAL! Being pretentious or being unreal is only leading to trust issues, dishonesty, therefore, poor relationships and loads of stress.

I smile when I wish to, I cry when my emotions pull me down, I call people I wish to talk to, I message those whom I care for, I eat what I can, I write when I am in an expressive mode, I yell when I am angry, I caress and pamper my loved ones when I want. Expressing one’s emotions is REAL and there is no clear harm in doing so. Let’s stop being afraid of being judged; we feel so as we too are judgemental. We believe what we feel, and we feel what we believe.

Create positivity and let’s grow older with more trust, love, peace, maturity and a happy life. Be Real!

-Priyanka