What does it mean to be yourself?
When do we get time to stop and ask ourselves deep, hard hitting, possibly life changing questions – like ‘who am I?’.
We’ve got deadlines, bills, kids, meals to cook, places to be, people to see.
Who really gets a chance to sit down and be genuine when we are ticking off an endless to do list?
And, if you actually get a chance to sit down you most likely pick up your phone and look at it.
Don’t believe me? When your next in our office have a look at what most people are doing while they wait for their appointment.
Modern life is busy and its easy for our focus to be taken up by social media, sensationalist news, dramatic weather reporting, devastating world events and whatever else.
We are so busy we sometimes forget about the bigger picture and life just passes us by.
We get caught doing rather than being.
Is it any wonder that we are suffering in this fast paced world?
Our health is suffering. Our mental health is suffering.
How do we change it?
Most change usually starts by asking a different question…if you keep asking the same question you’ll keep getting the same answer…ask a different question get a different answer.
What’s the question to ask?
Who am I?
Why am I here?
What am I doing about it?
That’s my answer anyway. What does it mean for me to be real? How can I be genuine?
The answers don’t come overnight, but starting with these questions is putting us on the right track.
I can’t answer these questions for you, they are yours to explore.
What I can tell you is who you are NOT.
You are NOT the voice in your head.
You know what I’m talking about the voice that’s constantly looking for the worst case scenario in everything, including yourself. That voice, our inner critic, that stops us from living our best life due to fear.
You are NOT everyone else’s expectations.
It’s pretty tiring to live up to someone else’s expectations – whether that’s family, work colleagues or societies. If in doubt re-read Dr Seuss’ quote at the start of this article.
I still enjoy a quote from the movie Chopper: ‘Beethoven had his critics, too. See if you can name three of them…that’s right you can’t.’
You are NOT your own comparisons.
We are conditioned to look outside of ourselves to compare ourselves to everyone else ……….. social media in particular. We admire or get jealous of what other people are doing. We think that person is some how a next level human being and we compare that with the worst versions of ourselves to their best self. We don’t know what’s going on behind the scenes. Who says its perfect?
If you think about someone you admire, someone you look up to, what is IT that you love about them?
Chances are they don’t let the voice inside there head stop them from taking action.
They are continuing on their path despite what everyone else thinks.
They only compare themselves to who they were yesterday.
It all starts by asking ‘who am I?’
Have fun exploring the answers.
Sam
