Be Who You Are

Joseph Campbell said that, “The privilege of a lifetime is being who you are.” We can have a bunch of people who care about us but if we don’t feel comfortable revealing our true spirt, our true self, to them, we are still going to feel very alone. So a crucial challenge of living is to find people who love and support us exactly as we are. People who will stick around without demanding that we trim our sails or adhere to the accepted family dogma or remain small so that we never threaten anyone’s equilibrium. It is far preferable to have a small circle who encourages us to be exactly us, full sail, than to have a wide circle of “friends” who discourage us from living unselfconsciously from our heart and soul. Refuse to be a bit player in someone else’s fantasy of what life is supposed to look like. Be who you are. We shouldn’t remind people of someone else. We should be so eccentrically, happily, proudly, the one-and-only us.

   The fear of getting hurt is what’s hurting you. Be who you are and then you will feel confident that anyone you attract into your life is there because they sincerely appreciate you. Evening the past has taught you to withdraw certain aspects of your being in order to remain at peace with the adults in your family of origin, you can breathe deeply and stop the self-conscious tiptoeing right now. Everything in nature grows to its full flower. We don’t walk around saying that this tree should be taller or this flower should have more red in it. We appreciate the natural world as it is. Learn to appreciate yourself exactly as you are. You don’t need to be around anyone who criticizes you for being “different.” We're supposed to be different. The whole point of life is to be different. Live from your own center. The world needs you.