Be Yourself – Because You Can’t be Anyone Else – And That’s Good
Just remember – being yourself is not a license to be a dick.
Who are you?
This is a massively loaded question. Who you are can vary depending on the time of day, the company you’re keeping, your mood, and numerous other factors.
The short answer is that you are you. No matter what happens, the only one in your head, heart, and soul is you.
Yet being yourself can be challenging because of the need to be accepted.
You might be someone who guards your tongue, acts a certain way in one group but a different way in another, or otherwise shapeshifts as necessary. Hence, you might often find yourself in situations where you think and feel you can’t be yourself.
But the truth is that you are always yourself. And you should be yourself because you can’t be anyone else.
Ever wonder what the world would look like if you – and everyone – could just be yourself?
Kindness, compassion, and empathy matter
In the United States, over the past decade or so, you’ve probably noticed a trend. Certain people, claiming liberties, rights, privileges, and the like – in the name of being themselves – have been utter dicks to everyone else.
That’s because a key element of being yourself gets ignored. And that’s kindness, compassion, and empathy.
Everyone desires to be treated with kindness, compassion, and empathy. But this has gotten bulldozed by some very loud, very selfish and narcissistic people falsely expressing being themselves.
This isn’t a judgment – it’s the truth. Thank too many entitled examples, bad actors, and so-called leaders with naught but self-interest for this. They’ve tossed aside kindness, compassion, and empathy to force their way on you and everyone else. They don’t lead by example but by fiat, shame, and arrogance.
Thus, people who are lauded for “being themselves” set bad examples that scared, uncertain, and lost people follow.
You have a choice. But consider this – do you desire to receive kindness, compassion, and empathy from others?
You probably do. Because you want people to understand you, to get you, and to accept you on many levels. And kindness, compassion, and empathy are part of all the above.
Hence, being yourself means that kindness, compassion, and empathy matter.
Being yourself means being true to yourself
Have you ever created a version of yourself that you presented to one group or person but not another? And has that identity been difficult to maintain because – though created to gain acceptance by another – it wasn’t true to you?
That’s why being yourself means being true to yourself. It’s the only way to really, truly, genuinely know and be you.
But – you might think – what if nobody likes the genuine me?
That’s a good question. But here’s a better one – do you like the genuine you?
It’s all too easy to dislike yourself. Particularly when you’re surrounded by people blatantly and subtly judging you, analyzing what you do, and the like.
Then – just to complicate matters – you’re up against a fear-based society. Thus, everything you do you probably also judge too harshly.
Fun, right?
There is, however, a singular measuring stick you can use to be yourself and regulate your impact on the world around you.
Don’t be a dick
That person who kicks puppies? They’re a dick. The people who take and take and give nothing back, creating complications for others? They’re dicks. That person who treats everyone like they’re sheep and worthless? They’re a dick.
And there is a common thread to this – kindness, compassion, and empathy. Or a lack thereof.
You know right from wrong. Not the black and white variants, but the shades of greys and color between them. You know not to randomly murder people just because, not to shove every slow walker on the street before you out of the way, not to urinate on public sidewalks, and so on.
If you think something someone does makes them a dick – don’t emulate them. Don’t do what they do. Don’t be a dick.
It’s a surprisingly simple measure.
If you find that being yourself somehow opens the way to being a dick – consider if you are genuinely, truly being yourself.
Hey, maybe you are a dick? You, and you alone, know.
You can only be you
At the end of the day, you are you. Yes, it’s possible to emulate or impersonate someone else. And sometimes the example they set is a good one to follow. But when all is said and done, being yourself is good.
When you are your genuine, authentic self, you don’t need to keep track of how you differ from group ‘A’ to group ‘B’. There’s no need to remember changes to yourself to be acceptable – you are just being yourself.
The positivity that comes of this is that you can work on being the best you that you can be. And that’s something that you are worthy and deserving of. Because – unless you’re a dick and don’t care – you are amazing.
The world needs your unique self in it. Because even if the why isn’t entirely clear – that is why you are here. To be yourself – and all the good and bad, potential and possibilities – that comes with it.
To be yourself and not be a dick isn’t hard
It’s all about working with mindfulness of your thoughts, feelings, and intentions to direct your actions.
When you work on being your genuine, authentic self, you gain insight into where and how that’s good and bad, and how to maintain, improve, alter, or otherwise change that. Knowing that being yourself is the only person you can be, working with and from this via conscious awareness – mindfulness – opens all sorts of positive potential and possibilities.
This empowers you – and in turn, your empowerment can empower others around you.
Taking an approach to positivity and negativity – from the vast cylinder that exists between them – shifts life in a way to open more dialogue. With a broader dialogue, you can explore and share where you are between the extremes and how that impacts you here and now.
Choosing thoughts, feelings, actions, and intentions for yourself employs an approach and attitude of positivity for realizing amazing potential and possibilities for your life.
The better aware you are of yourself in the now, the more you can do to choose and decide how your life experiences will be. When that empowers you, it can spread to those around you to their empowerment.
Thank you for coming along on this journey.
This is the four hundred-and-ninety-eighth entry of my Positivity series. I hope that these weekly messages might help spread positive energies for everyone. Feel free to share, re-blog, and spread the positivity.
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