How many times have you heard the words "just be yourself?" We hear these words of advice, but what do they really mean? What does it mean to be yourself? To be yourself is to be a unique expression of spirit. Spirit is housed inside of us, and it is our true essence. Each of us is born for a purpose, the purpose of becoming yourself. You are here to be only you and to allow life to be expressed through you. You are here to leave your mark on the world, to offer your piece of the puzzle so that life expands, so that you impact others' lives and the world is richer and sweeter for it.
Never before in human history has this been more significant than now. Consciousness is evolving, and more and more people are waking up to their personal power and are delving deep within themselves to discover the treasures that lie within. You are unique. You have something to give that no one else can give. Life is asking you to be yourself and leave your essence in the world.
I have a proposition for you: Be yourself and go all way. There is no room for half measures. If you're going to shine your light, do it brightly in a loving and courageous way. It is your birth right to be you, and as Joseph Campbell said, "The privilege of a lifetime is being who you are." Be an original, not a copy of someone else. The hardest thing you will have to face in a world that expects you to meet others' expectations is to be yourself and trust yourself.
You were born with unique gifts and unique ways of seeing the world. Find out what your gifts are and then share them with others. This is your purpose to share your gifts and yourself with others. You were not born to compare yourself to others, seeking to validate your self-worth with what others have accomplished. The simple truth is that you were never supposed to do what they did and be like they are because you were meant to be you and only you.
There is freedom in knowing that you have nothing else to do but be you. To be you is to be true to yourself. To be true to yourself is to honor your heart's yearning and to listen to your inner guidance as it offers clues to the right path for you. Stop seeking reassurance, opinions and validation from the outside world and start seeking answers and comfort from your inner self.
Start to know who you really are. Embrace everything about yourself. Love yourself as you are unconditionally, and then, from this place, if there are parts of yourself that you would like to improve and change because it will bring contentment and peace, do so with compassion and love. Applying love to those parts that are hurting is what healing is about. There is always room for us to shine a little brighter by bringing more light to the darker parts of ourselves, not because anyone said so but because doing so allows us to be vulnerable and to be okay with the human condition.
Often, we hide these shadowy parts of ourselves because we don't want to reveal them to others. We live in shame, embarrassed and scared for others to discover those parts of us that we have disowned. We believe that we have to show only the parts of us that will be accepted. The funny thing is that it has nothing to do with anyone else. The fact is that we have not accepted all of us and continue to live in judgement. It's time to let ourselves off the hook and make a commitment to healing and being ourselves.
The price you pay for not being yourself is betrayal of yourself. It is actually painful when we are not ourselves, as we are not in sync with who we are. When we do not allow ourselves to be who we really are, we feel depressed, our spirit is crushed, our light has dimmed and we feel trapped. We keep ourselves small and feel constricted. This is not natural, and there is no joy in being like this.
Why do we hold back from being ourselves? Fear stops us from being ourselves. Maybe we fear that if we are ourselves, people will not love us, we will be alone or we may be rejected. How ironic that we are the ones rejecting ourselves. We are the ones that judge ourselves for not been good enough, so we deny our true essence. We walk around dimming our light, moulding ourselves to what we think is acceptable to others and not realizing that we have created the story that tells us, "Be careful. It's not safe to be yourself."
This is not true. This is a belief and story we have convinced ourselves of. The truth is that being yourself is why you are here. You are the one that you have chosen to be in this lifetime. You are the one you have been waiting for. It's your birthright to be yourself and to go all the way with expressing your greatness. The world is waiting for you to express your creativity, including your unique way of speaking, writing, painting, parenting, relating and just being.
The ancient Greeks believed that each child was born with a 'diamon' and the purpose in life was to discover their golden self. Aristotle considered the journey of discovering our magnificence based on one's unique talents and potential to be the noblest goal in life. There are people waiting for someone like you, people who will appreciate who you are and need your unique talents and gifts. To know that someone will be happier, inspired and touched because you decided to be yourself and share your unique offerings, now that is worth living for. That is worth being yourself.