Your Biggest Flaw is Not Being Yourself

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One day I woke up and realized the person I had been for most of my life was gone.

The successful businesswoman climbing the corporate ladder. Gone. The athiest Jew. Where? The shunner of creative desires. Shun this. The socialite binge dater. Netflix. The normal person I’d groomed myself to be? All gone.

The persistent waves of time and experience had quietly chipped away at the definitions I held so close. How had I not noticed?

What was left was someone much closer to the me I’d been as a child and young adult. Rebellious, wild, inappropriate, full of angst, entrepreneurial, bursting with belief in magic and wonder at the beauty of the world. Spiritual in her own way. Creative without abandon.

And yet in spite of these massive changes, the shadow of my old self still rears its head. Remember not to torpedo your future, she says. Be careful of what you publish or say. Try to not be too “out there.” This could be a phase, after all.

What must we do when the vestiges of a manufactured identity haunt us? When our survival instinct tries desperately to pull us back to a safer, more defined, more acceptable identity — what then?

We must be ourselves in this moment.

We must be true not to the specter of self, but to heart and desire. To whatever is racing out of us — whether it be word, inspiration, ingenuity.

We must face the fears our egos manufacture and realize, it’s all fake anyway. Too often we’re only being the people our families or friends or employers feel comfortable with.

So many of us have been conforming to not stand out.

I say, stand up.

Be the amazing authentic unique person you’re meant to be. It’s the only way for you to share your personal blend of amazingness with the world.