The importance of being your authentic self

It has suddenly dawned on me that the most important lesson you can learn in life is to be your authentic self and accept it. Sounds so simple doesn't it? I can hear you saying to yourself now "well of course I'm going to be myself, who else would I be?" and that's exactly how I used to think. Until things didn't work out the way I imagined, until I had that 'oh' moment where what I was holding onto had finally ended and the moment I realised my job no longer satisfied me.  

I can't explain how important that sense of relief was after I had both those 'oh' moments, especially the first one. No longer did I have to try and hold onto something that I knew wasn't right. No longer did I have to try and be the 'best' version of myself to fit somebody's idealistic version of me. No longer did I have to put up a front - finally I had the chance to be my whole self again, finally I could take advantage of the opportunities that I had dreamt about. That 'finally' moment, what a relief my shoulders felt. 

Now this might sound odd, but I had those 'oh' moments two years ago but have only realised the significance of those moments today. Maybe because I was still healing, maybe because my head was still doubting my gut. But nevertheless, I acknowledge the true importance of those moments now and the lesson it has taught me. Always be true to yourself. Whether it is being honest with yourself that something that once gave you fulfilment no longer excites you. Or you have found yourself somewhere where you don't really want to be, and you are unsure what brings you happiness anymore.

To be true to yourself and act on that is difficult because our heads are always telling us what we 'should' be doing (what society expects from us) and thus what everyone else expects from us. I now realise, there is no point! There is no point carrying on day to day doing something because it is expected from us. 

The only person stopping you from doing the things that light you up is you. And yes, we all have responsibilities which require money, so if you need to stay in your job, why not do a passion on the side? Fund your passion with the job and who knows, because you love your passion and will ultimately give it your all - you might end up making a living out of your passion. 

Even if you have found your passion but you still feel like you’re trying to be somebody else to fit in...DON’T! Because the world will never benefit from what you can give to us, your weird and quirky traits that your close ones will adore about you. We don’t want to miss out on that and you won’t feel your whole self. 

Don’t get me wrong, I know this is easily said than done and there is a difference between writing this and being out there in the world. But if rejection from people is something that is holding you back, well let me ask you, do you really care? On the grand scheme of things – does it/they really matter? Those people obviously don't understand you right now and that’s fine. Not everyone will, so just do and be whatever makes you happy and be with those people who you can be yourself around and light you up. Because ultimately…life is too short, right?

I do apologise to those who feel like they have always been true to themselves and have figured this out a long time ago. But, I’ve just had this huge light bulb switch on and it feels so simple that I should have realised it in school (congratulations to those who did) but it’s taken me a while.

One last thing, I recently heard something which has stuck with me and wanted to share, “Don’t do something because you should, do something because you want to or feel a need to.”