Week 95 - "To be yourself in a world that is constantly trying to make you something else is the greatest accomplishment" – Ralph Waldo Emerson
Inspired by a conversation with a friend ;)
When I think about the people I’m most drawn to and the closest friends I have, one common trait always seems to emerge.
Authenticity.
It’s people who don’t care what others think and are deeply connected to their true selves that I tend to find myself gravitating toward.
But despite its importance, why does it feel so hard to find authentic people, much less, authenticity within myself?
I mean, we already know that caring about what other people think is a one-way ticket to being unhappy, so why aren’t more people authentic?
It’s paradoxical, but I think it’s because there’s a difference between actually being authentic to who you really are, and wanting to be authentic.
When you shoot for authenticity, you aren’t truly being “you”.
Actually, the more you try to be authentic, the more difficult it gets due to your increasing expectations of yourself.
It’s a lot more simple than people make it out to be, yet the common case of caring about what someone might think is enough to stop most.
I hate to be the broken record player you might need, but be yourself, authentically!
But even that’s hard. I mean, how many of your interests and desires exist because of what other people/groups have told you to want? How many of your goals or hobbies exist because of what you saw a person or people do?
Maybe it’s a simpler question.
If you could take the element of other people’s opinions out of the equation. If you could stop worrying about what others would think, what would you do?
What would you do for fun, for work, for leisure?
Where would you do it?
Who would you do it with?
These are all questions everyone else seems to constantly tell us the answers to, but for once, don’t listen to their advice.
I’m not saying to completely make your decision based on your answer but just think about it.
How would you answer those questions, and how does what you’re doing line up against those answers?
That difference is the gap between wanting authenticity and actually being authentic.
The smaller it is, the closer you are to living a life for yourself, not for others.
Remember, the world belongs to those who are unapologetically themselves, regardless of what people may think, say, or feel as a result.
Own the world.