Permission to Be Yourself
There seems to be a lot of
emphasis on self-improvement these days.
We’re always trying to be a better person. I guess it’s a good thing, there’s nothing
wrong with wanting a better version of yourself. So off we go in search of who we should
be. There’s all kinds of resources out
there. You can analyze your personality
in 100 different ways. It’s all rather
exciting! I get to categorize myself
with other people that share similar personality types. I get to celebrate agreeing with what I
already know about myself. If you’ve
picked up on a hint of sarcasm then you are very intuitive. While these tools can be helpful (and no I
won’t mention any of them by name, I’m sure you can figure it out) No test or
quiz can accurately assess the real you.
You are unique in all of creation.
There has never been a you and when you are gone there will never be
another you.
I think it’s important that
we improve ourselves; physical, emotional, and spiritual growth is
important. If we aren’t growing we’re
dying; I get all that. However,
sometimes our efforts to become better seem to take away from who we really
are. We adjust our personalities to make
them more palatable to the people around us.
If you’re too opinionated, dial it down.
Which in many cases means I don’t want to hear your opinion and if you
could change and be like me, that would be great. Truth is, the quirkiness of the people we are
in relationship with is often what drew us into the relationship in the first
place. We love and hate those qualities
in others, but if we remove that quirkiness we also remove an important part of
their personalities. It’s like saying I
really love hot sauce but could you remove all the hot stuff from it. I hate to tell but you really don’t love hot
sauce then. Celebrate people for who
they are, be honest with them when they hurt your feelings or say something to
you that offends you, but don’t try to create a watered down version of who
they are. Give others around you
permission to be themselves and maybe others will be able to celebrate you in
all your quirkiness as well.
That’s the View from
Here….
