Being Yourself: Perfect Balance

Being Yourself: Perfect Balance

 

            It takes a lot to be yourself. Don’t get me wrong. You have heard it plenty of times before, and have heard it from a million different sources. They make it sound so easy. So simple. As if you could accomplish it with just a lift of a hand and a snap of a finger. I know just as well as all of you that it’s simply not that simple. There is self-esteem issues, the feeling of fitting in, the struggle with your inner demons, etc. It’s these inner demons that set everyone away from truly being yourself. We are one in the same. It’s the common struggle to be who you really are and be truly happy. The demons never stop trying to take control of your life and make you miserable, they are our doubt, our hesitation, our shy, our insecurities, and our worst enemy. Yet through all this we have our moments where we truly shine and are truly happy. It’s this balance that makes us the perfect us we can be. We need to be able to balance our demons with the correct offset of happy and we find who we are. One of the best ways to do this is to say no. As shown in a recent blog I read “A Simple Guide to Being Yourself Instead of People Pleasing” (http://tinybuddha.com/blog/be-yourself-instead-of-people-pleasing/) saying no is a powerful tool and can help you on your road to becoming who you are and finding the things that truly make you happy.

                Well how do I know when I’m really being myself? Good question beautiful reader. The answer lies in your friends. My friends? Yes your friends. When you are with friends, do you change what you say to appease their opinion? Do you put on a persona that they are used to seeing when they are around you? If so, your brain probably unconsciously doesn’t see them as a true friend, because when you are with that certain someone you find to be your best friend, you hide nothing. You see them as true and trustworthy so you tell them everything. You don’t feel ashamed when you are with them. You feel at peace and like you fit in. You speak your mind, and they listen, not arguing, let you finish, and then argue with you playfully just to piss you off. You two could fight for about a day maximum and then you wouldn’t be able to stand it anymore and come running back to each other again the very next day because you couldn’t stand being away and not talking for that long. This person is the one you watch hours’ worth of shows with, eating several containers of ice cream and not feel ashamed with. If you can find these people, then you are set for life, because they will help provide you with perfect balance. As long as you are being yourself, you could never steer yourself wrong. As always guys, thanks for reading and I love you all!

Being Yourself: The Short End of the Stick

Being Yourself: The Short End of the Stick

 

            We all have days where we feel like we are getting cheated out of something. Be it, a good grade, or a ranking at a competition, sometimes we just feel like we deserve better. Most of us do deserve better, but sometimes it just doesn’t work out that way. I understand completely. There are some times in my life where I definitely got it easy and its pretty smooth sailing for the most part. Other times I just come up short. Main example in my life is at home, I am the middle child of three. When it comes to ganging up on someone, my two siblings (older sister and younger brother) have it down to an art form. They are perfectly in sync with each other. They know what to say, to back each other up in an argument when it’s just me versus them, they know when to get rough and yell, and they make the fight basically feel like a WWE match between Mr. Rodgers and the Hulk tag teaming with Thor. That simply put is not a fair battle at all. The result is always that compared to a Native American Reserve fighting against the Enola Gay dropping Little Boy (that’s a little splash history for ya, if you don’t know what Little Boy is, look it up on Google). It’s really one-sided. So believe me, I’ve been in your shoes even if it’s just an infinitesimally small fraction of what you all have been through I at least have a small understanding of what goes on in life.

            Maybe it’s how you’re treated in your home, maybe it’s at school, or maybe it’s just walking down the street. We’ve all been treated badly, taken down a few notches, and left in the dust. Even when our confidence is at its highest it can take just one person to say a simple phrase that makes us feel horrible and not worth much. My theory is, hearing an insult from someone you don’t really know is way more costly than hearing one from someone who knows you well. Because think about it, we all take things that we hear from people we know not that seriously, but if it’s someone who is just getting a first impression of you, and is disgusted enough to insult you, then that makes us all feel like we are majorly in the wrong. We feel horrible because they immediately found the bad side of us and pointed it out, we feel exposed, guilty, self-conscious, and flat out wrong. But this is only if we let it get to us. This same thought applies to us at home, in our daily lives, in school, or once again, simply walking down the street.

            We could feel cheated out of everything in our lives and let harsh words and people ruin everything that makes us happy in life, or we could stand up for ourselves, brush the dirt off of our shoulders, and walk right by the insulter giving them a good: “have a nice day”. Nothing takes the wind out of antagonists sails like acting the words don’t affect you at all. Even if they do, don’t show it. They want a reaction and that will get you down. Feel like you drew the long straw in life and it will start to go that way. As always guys, thanks for reading, I love you all!