If I Can't Be Me, Who Should I be?

Who am I? It seems to me we all try to answer this question at some point in our lives--some sooner, others later.

Some people--including myself, often get caught-up in being, or presenting themselves in a manner or light that they assume people want them to be, or in a way they think people want to view them.

Trying to please; Trying to be seen as a good person; Trying to make the best impression possible on the masses--especially those we care about or hold dear.

Is this narcisism at work? If ultimately the goal of trying to portray oneself as an ideal person or a respectable individual to others is to make yourself feel good about who you are, to feel comfortable with your own person, aren't you then feeding your own ego?

I guess it is an unfortunate reality that by trying to present yourself in a positive light in other's eyes, you are actually ---ultimately being self serving.

The lesson?

Don't worry about what other people think of you. Don't focus on trying to portray yourself as a good or ideal person. Just be yourself. Be confident in who you are. You ARE a good person. Accept the fact that regardless of how you act, there are going to be people who dislike you for a variety of reasons--and "so be it" should be your position, because no one person can ever be appreciated or liked by everyone.

Don't feel like you have to be the perfect or ideal person. We all have faults, we all have our unique and sometimes controversial qualities. What we need to come to grips with as people is the fact that most good-hearted people are aware (even if we are not), that we aren't perfect. Most good-hearted people even appreciate us more for being open and admitting that we are fallable and imperfect, because they are too, and as a great friend of mine once told me, "Who wants to be around a perfect person so they can feel inadequate or below par in their presence? Noone. We want to feel like we are on an equal level of imperfection; fallability."

Understanding that is hard, but it is a good thing.

So, if you can't be you....why be?